


A Tale Of Two States

by Theonewhosawitall



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Morning, Christmas Play, Christmas Presents, Divorce, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fatherhood, Feels, First Christmas, Fun, Gen, Hurt, I had so much fun writing the last chapter, Insanity, Ohana, Performance, Team as Family, Theatre, santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:08:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27887299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theonewhosawitall/pseuds/Theonewhosawitall
Summary: 4 Christmases, 2 states, 1 family. Balancing being a father with being a cop is hard, especially at Christmas. Its all about having the right partner for backup.
Relationships: Danny "Danno" Williams & Grace Williams, Rachel Edwards & Danny "Danno" Williams, Rachel Edwards & Grace Williams, Rachel Edwards/Danny "Danno" Williams, Steve McGarrett & Danny "Danno" Williams, Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 10
Kudos: 69





	1. Grace's First Christmas

From the moment in the height of summer that Danny had woken up in the middle of the night to find out Rachel was in labour and had to go to the hospital **now,** Danny hadn't slept well. Lord knows it was worth it. Cradling that bundle of joy in his arms filled his heart with more love than he even knew was possible. He had never been as terrified in his life and he couldn't wait to spend every single moment he could with her.

But cops weren't actually supposed to take paternity leave. He was lucky enough to be friends with his Captain, who gave him two weeks off. Although he wasn't allowed to pay into his pension in that time which could impact them later. Then Danny had to manipulate his mandated therapist into letting him take ten days off for belated grieving. After all, just nine months ago the worst tragedy had struck New York and in the chaos his partner had died in his arms with no chance of back up coming to rescue her.

He still felt odd referring to this happy little girl as Grace, like the partner he had felt closer to than anyone, but he was glad he did. That her memory lived on. Rachel wasn't thrilled with the idea of her daughter being named after the woman Danny mumbled about in his sleep, but they had bigger problems, and he had fought tooth and nail to be there for her when she went into labour. 

It was just a name. A rose by any other would smell just as sweet. 

Besides, the look of utter infatuation on his face when he looked between their daughter and her was enough to remind her why she fell for him in the first place.

Six months later she was exhausted and Grace was a handful and the house was a mess and Danny was back at work and even more exhausted than her.

"It's my duty to work all hours I'm needed Rachel! Besides, the more money I bring home the more we can have after rent so you can continue paying the babysitter to watch our daughter while you go to cooking class!"

Danny tried to keep his voice low as he tried not to let the urge to shout over take him again. The neighbours had been really had enough of the walls shaking whenever Danny and Rachel were home together for more than twenty minutes, followed by the baby crying all night and the dog barking at nothing.

"I wouldn't have to pay someone to babysit our daughter if you were home!" Rachel snapped back.

She was less concerned about upsetting the neighbours today. It was a strange role reversal for the two of them, but they were too involved to see the humour in it.

Danny staggered backwards, visibly offended by the accusation. "You think I don't wanna be here with my baby at all times?! Of course I want to be here with her all the time - Whenever I go out the door I'm scared it'll be the last time I ever see her-"

Rachel refused to let the flicker of guilt cut back the frustration in her chest. "Well if you didn't keep picking up overtime shifts-"

"I have to work overtime, what are we gonna do, not pay rent?!" Danny demanded.

"I could go back to work-" Rachel began.

"You want to go back to work and leave our daughter with who exactly, huh?" Danny demanded.

"We could hire a nanny!"

"Oh so she gets a nanny for a parent and hardly sees us at all, that's a great idea, why don’t we cut out the middle man and put her up for adoption huh? Would that be easier?!"

Danny regretted it as soon as he said it but the hurt and offence in his stomach made him lash out. That split second look of shock on Rachel's face didn’t help.

"Why must you always be so pig-headed Daniel?!" She snarled. 

"I'm not being pig-headed, don’t tell me I’m being pig-headed-" he began. 

"If you don’t want me to say you’re being pig-headed stop being pig-headed!"

"All I want is to be able to keep my family happy and healthy and under one roof, which requires money-"

"Well you’re doing a terrific job, I'm just _delighted!"_

"I'm sorry you married such a failure, I'm sorry you didn't marry some _prince_ like your mother wanted you too-"

"If you listen to your mother you are a little prince!"

"Don’t - don’t bring ma into this!"

"Don't bring mine into this either!"

"Fine! I’m sorry Rach, I'm _sorry!_ I have to go to work because if I don't-"

"Then I can?! Is that it?! You just don’t want me to leave this apartment-"

"I don’t want you- what?! I just told you I'm paying for your cooking classes so you can go out with that guy, that - that Stan-"

"This has nothing to do with Stan!"

"Then what's it about Rach, because I honestly, I don’t even understand what’s going on with us anymore- I-"

" _You're never here!_ "

Rachel yelled at the top of her lungs and woke up the baby. Grace screamed from her cot. Both parents dropped their arguments and moved to settle her. Danny felt Rachel shove him away so she could reach Grace faster, but he couldn’t be sure it was deliberate. Rachel held Grace to her chest and bounced her gently to help her settle.

Almost immediately Grace was quieter and Danny felt... unneeded.

From his bed, Checkers raised his chin. He didn't like the yelling either, but he really didn't like how sad the air felt when the yelling was done. Rachel sat on the couch with her. Danny perched on the arm and sighed.

"You knew what you were signing on for when you married me Rachel," he said quietly.

"I know I did, but Grace didn’t," Rachel said, seriously. 

Danny's stomach twisted. "Don't - don't do that, don’t use her against me."

Rachel sighed. It wasn't like she wanted to upset Danny any more than she wanted to feel abandoned by him. But she couldn't help what she felt. It was as if she was a single mother and nothing but a single mother anymore. She missed working and going outside of this house and having people who could talk to her instead of just screaming. The only break she got was cooking class or walking the dog.

As much as she loved Grace, she couldn't stand being trapped inside with her all day alone. Especially on days like this. 

"It's Christmas eve Danny. Don't you want to see Grace meet Santa?" She urged. 

"I do... Of course I do, you know I do!" He insisted. 

Rachel hissed at him to hush as Grace whined at the loud noises again. Danny wrinkled his nose apologetically. They had to keep their voice low when Grace was around. He knew that. But he was a passionate man and yelling was how his family had expressed themselves. But he softened his tone for Grace. There wasn't anything he wouldn’t do for her. 

"I always wanted to dress as Santa for my kids like pop always did for us, but... look, she’s six months old, it's not like she'll remember," Danny muttered. 

He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince, Rachel or himself. Checkers gave a soft whine. Danny couldn't even convince the dog he meant it.

"She won't remember Halloween either," Rachel muttered bitterly.

He felt a thud of guilt as he remembered promising to be home early enough for Rachel to go to a parent group costume party with Grace. Halloween was a high crime night. It wasn't his fault, he shouldn't have made a promise. 

"Rach-" he began quietly.

She reached out and laid a hand on his arm to silence him. "All I'm saying is we shouldn’t form bad habits this early. It won't be long before she does remember, and by the it could be too late."

Rachel's eyes were desperate. He could see the ache in them. Danny's heart ached too. He could feel the distance between them growing, and it felt like a glass wall. They could see each other just fine but they couldn't feel each other, and all sound was muffled. 

But it was Christmas. 

Grace's first Christmas. 

Danny sighed. He ran a hand across Grace's head. Her whole head was small enough to fit in his hand. He leaned in to kiss her, but not Rachel.

"I'll be home before bedtime. I promise," he muttered.

Rachel said nothing. She had heard it all before. She didn’t even look up when Danny paused at the front door. Checkers padded over to get a head scratch before he left. Danny barely registered his action as he automatically scratched behind his floppy ear. Once satisfied, Checkers padded off to his bed. Usually Danny would leave immediately after that. But not today. His eyes didn’t leave Rachel.

"I love you."

It was quite. Desperately calm. A simple plea that they could get through this somehow. Although the pause was short, it felt like a year had passed before she responded. 

"I love you too."

Rachel still didn't look up. She wouldn't. She waited until she heard the click of the latch as Danny left again before letting out a long heavy sigh that she had been holding in.

"Okay baby, I'm gonna put you down now alright? Can you get some more sleep for mummy? Yeah? Come on," she muttered. 

Grace protested to being set back in her cot, but it didn’t last long. Rachel picked up the papers face down on the table. They had formula stains on the back from spillages Danny had half heartedly mopped up with a baby grow the night before while balancing Grace on his side. Rachel turned them over and laid a hand on her cheek to stare at them.

Divorce was a big decision. One she wished she could talk to someone about.

But Danny wasn't willing to go to couples therapy and between his work and Grace they didn’t have time to sit down and work out their problems together. Not that Danny ever did. Whenever arguments started he left. He walked out. He hung up. He never stayed to work things out so Rachel had given up trying.

She couldn't talk to her mother either. If she ever picked up she was far too busy jetting across the world to listen to her daughter problems. And she has made her opinions clear when she first met Danny. She didn't like him. The friend she had first moved to America with had gotten home sick and moved back to Norwich too, so Rachel had no one but Grace and Checkers to talk to. 

Well, unless you counted Stan.

Stan was nice. He was funny. He had welcomed her into cooking classes from day one and worked to make sure she felt comfortable because he could tell she was nervous. He asked about Grace. He was genuinely interested in listening to her gush about her daughter too. And he made her feel heard. 

But she hadn't known Stan very long and this was her marriage. It was big. And small. It was a billion small hurts that built up into one huge resentment.

Rachel turned the paper over and tucked it away in a drawer. She would talk to someone about this, but not today. Not now.

Not at Christmas.

...

"She said you wanted to trap her inside?" Detective Poitier snorted, "You? The guy who encouraged her to join cooking class to get her out of the house and making new friends in the first place?" 

"Exactly!" Danny cried.

He had known Poitier since the academy days and as begrudging as he was to have to take on a new partner, at least it was a friend. Someone who knew to meet him by the doors of the elevator holding a fresh cup of coffee to hold off the bitching until he had warmed up which would reduce his complaints to ones that actually mattered. 

He also knew about Brooke. Danny had fought hard to save her from her husband and he had fallen for her along the way. Danny despised her ex husband - at least when he remembered him. He had let the man punch him in the face just to get him arrested to make sure Brooke was free. He would never, ever try and trap Rachel like Ray had trapped Brooke. 

The accusation was laughable. 

"I've done everything I can to make her feel comfortable in Newark, but it's never enough! I don’t know what else I can try," Danny complained.

Poitier spun his desk chair around to lean on Danny's desk opposite him. "Imagine it from her perspective. Imagine you had to give up all of this, all of us, and go hundreds of thousands of miles away from your home town and everything you know to live in a crappy apartment all alone for the majority of your time. Wouldn't you get grouchy?" 

Danny opened his mouth to argue, but he stopped himself. For a moment he considered his proposal. Danny had never left New Jersey except for college and it had made him so home sick he dropped out. Becoming a cop was his way of protecting the city he loved so much. The job meant the world to him. Even the idea of giving him up and leaving not only his job but his friends and his family, it upset him. It was never a choice he'd willingly make. 

But Rachel had chosen this path. She knew what she signed up for.

"She wants to go back to work," Danny said. 

"Then let her," Poitier shrugged. 

"We can't afford a babysitter for all that time and -" Danny cut himself off.

Poitier raised an eyebrow. "And?" 

It felt stupid to admit it, but emotions didn't make sense. He took a long sip of his coffee hoping Poitier would move on. He didn’t.

Danny just signed. Quietly he muttered, "I don’t want Grace getting attached to some stranger who's being more of a parent than I am." 

Poitier looked surprised for a moment, before giving him a sympathetic look, and laid a hand on his back,

"Danny. You’re her father. Do you love her any less when she’s not right in front of you?" 

"What? No, of course not!" Danny cried.

"Exactly, so why would she?" Poitier smirked. 

Danny hummed dubiously. He didn’t like to admit when he was wrong but Poitier made sense. And he wasn't done.

"Maybe Rachel doesn't have to get a full time job anyway. Maybe she can get a job for two or three days a week. Just enough to go out and talk to grown ups for a while. God knows when Aggie stopped talking to adults for most of the day she lost that ability to talk to adults and it was hard for both of us," Poitier explained.

"It's definitely hard," Danny agreed.

"Then help her get a job. It'll help you both," Poitier suggested. 

"All I'm going to focus on today is getting home before bedtime. Before bath time if I'm really lucky," Danny said firmly.

"I'll help. Don't worry, we'll get you home before you can say Santa Claus Is Coming to Town!" Poitier winked.

Danny snickered. Having someone to talk to who listened and at least pretended to understand made him feel much better.

A police precinct at Christmas isn't a particularly cheerful place to be usually. They tried to inject some festive cheer into the space by stringing up Christmas lights and hanging tinsel along their desks. Someone had printed off fake paper work forms to slice up and hang as paper chairs around the office to amuse the others as well. The captain even went around wearing a Santa hat all day, and splurged to get every officer working that night a small bottle of whiskey and a candy cane to take home with them. The whiskey was optional, which meant some people could end up with more than one.

Tonight they had even arrested a very intoxicated man for public urination who was belting out Christmas carols in the bullpen. His voice was actually rather beautiful. 

Other arrests were less than pleased to be there, but most didn’t have anywhere better to be tonight anyway. At least this place was warm and dry. Between their grumbling over being arrested and the officers complaining about having to work, Danny felt well suited to be grouchy. He'd been content in this grouchiness catching up on his paperwork for nearly his whole shift before Poitier tossed a candy cane onto his desk.

Danny glanced up. Poitier grinned at him. Danny gestured to the candy accusingly with his pen.

"What is this?" He asked. 

"You can have my candy cane," Poitier said. 

Danny eyed him suspiciously so he picked up the candy cane and held it out for him to take. When Danny tried, he snatched it back.

" _If_ you smile."

Danny huffed and pulled an even grumpier face. He should have expected this. Poitier had been trying to wring a smile out of him for the last hour.

Drily, Danny said, "Pass."

"Come on man, it's Christmas," Poitier insisted. 

"Bah humbug," Danny stated.

"Fine. But I've got something that will cheer you up. Here."

Poitier set a coffee cup on Danny's desk. Danny noted the gloved hand he placed it with. It was chilly in here, sure, but not enough to need gloves. But it was coffee... Danny took the cup and sniffed it suspiciously. It was definitely coffee and not hot chocolate in disguise. He wasn't sure what Poitier was playing at yet, so he dared to take a sip.

"This isn't from here. This is fresh. It doesn’t have any grit to it at all," Danny deduced. He glared at Poitier. This was a bribe. "What’s the catch?"

Poitier pulled an apologetic grimace, "We've got to go downtown to a crime scene that just got reported and traffic sucks so we might be a little late."

Danny's eyes widened and he rose to his feet to protest more ardently. "No, no, no I can't be late tonight, I can't!"

"Calm down, if we go right now and get that brig lawful brain of yours down there I'm sure we'll wrap this up-"

"If you say like a Christmas present under the tree I swear-"

"Wow you're really feeling that bah humbug huh? Alright I won't. Let's go Scrooge."

Danny wasn’t sure if it was fair to call him a Scrooge considering how he was fighting to be home for Christmas. If anything he was more of a Bob Cratchit. He desperately wanted to be with his family right now but they needed as much money as they could get. It was a thought that struck him harder as he tugged his hat down low and buried his nose into his scarf to brave the icy winds of a New Jersey winter.

"You good?" Poitier teased.

"My coffee is ice," Danny grumbled.

Poitier chuckled. "The car's down here."

Something cold landed on Danny's cheek. It was swift and soft and melted almost instantly. Danny frowned as he raised his eyes to the sky. The grey cladding above the city had become brighter. Whiter. A gentle flurry of snowflakes drifted through the air around them. His stomach dropped. 

"Wow," he heard his partner chuckle in delight, "it's a nice day for a white Christmas huh?" 

"What? What is that supposed to mean? That's not even-" Danny was scowling but he stopped when he saw his friends smile fade. He sighed. He didn't like to be the kind of man that upset his friends. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be grumpy, it's just... Grace has never seen snow before and now it's going to be even harder to get home on time because snow backs up traffic, and I don't want her to associate snow with her daddy not coming home on time. It'll ruin Christmas!" 

"Hey, I told you I'd help you to get home before Grace goes to sleep. I'm going to keep that promise. I've got your back Williams," Poitier winked.

"Then can I drive this time?" Danny asked.

He snorted, "What, are you crazy? Of course not, I drive. Let's go!" 

"I hope my next partner let's me drive my own car," Danny grumbled.

Where time went Danny had no idea. One minute he was getting in the squad car with hours to kill before he had to leave to be home on time, the next - well. Their report of a break in turned out to be squatters in a meth lab. One of them had a gun. Things could have gone really badly.

Visions of Detective Grace Tillwell's final hours in somewhere hauntingly similar to this place struck Danny. Manhattan blended so easily with New Jersey and his mind couldn't keep up. If Poitier hadn't been there to shoot a suspect in the shoulder, Danny would have been in the hospital by now.

His captain sent him home with a bottle of whiskey, two candy canes, and an order to go to the squads therapist twice a week from now on.

Even then, even with the snow, he had half an hour to spare. Just long enough to run into that shop and get that cute toy sitting in the window for Grace. After all she could have lost her father tonight, and what would she have to remember him by?

Nothing. He hadn't been there enough. 

And then he was in the line to pay for too long and he was taking the stairs two by two to get home as if he wasn't already late.

Danny slammed through the door, half panting, and cried, "I'm back, Rach I'm back- Grace-" 

Rachel appeared, hurrying into the hallway to shush him. "Shh! She's sleeping! Has been for an hour!"

There was a tone of impatience to her words, but Danny didn't register it. He didn’t register the dog happily sniffling at his shoes to find out where he'd been either. His shoulders sagged in despair.

"You couldn't wait just a little longer?" He asked.

His voice was desperate. Almost pleading, like she could go back in time and keep Grace away long enough for him to come home. Rachel didn't pick up on it.

"You know she's on a schedule, if she doesn't sleep properly now her whole routine is thrown off for the next two days at least," she huffed.

Danny gulped and nodded, "yeah. Yeah, I know, I'm sorry, I got caught up in a case, there was snow- I meant to call-" 

Rachel's eyes widened as she realised why he was rambling. When he pulled off his hat and didn’t try to fix his hair, her heart dropped. It had been a bad day. And sometimes bad days meant he nearly didn't get to come home. Just the idea of that made her heart well up.

Rachel flew to his side, resting one hand on his chest as she rubbed his back with the other and assured him, "Shh, shh, Danny, it's okay. It's okay. You're not working tomorrow, and that's the really important day right?" 

Danny looked up at her for a moment. Quietly he nodded in agreement. 

Right now seemed like a really important moment too. This morning she had thought the same thing. But he couldn’t remember this morning. He could barely remember the paperwork he had done all day.

Five minutes of sudden danger had made him realise how easily he could miss out on Grace growing up altogether. He would take what little he could get.

"And since its Christmas, I really don't want to fight anymore," Rachel said quietly. 

Danny suddenly remembered the argument they had had that morning. It came back to him like a dart. It seemed so unimportant now.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry it's been so hard, it's just- work is so much harder now that I've got someone who depends on me coming home-" 

Rachel's hand slipped away from his shoulder, "And I didn’t before?" 

Danny winced. "You know what I mean." 

"Right..." Rachel wanted to believe him, but she wasn't fully convinced she did. She chose to ignore her doubts and push through them. "And I'm still exhausted from all the late night feeding and rushing around during the day. We've both been tired and working hard. This will pass. It'll get easier." 

Danny's hand moved to his chest to lay on top of hers. He turned to face her as he did so he could look into her eyes and see the answers he was hoping for.

"We can get through this right?" He whispered.

Rachel held his gaze for a moment. She recognised the desperation in them. The need for the answer to be yes. As she ran her thumb along his hand and felt the bump of his wedding band she wished she could tell him what he wanted to hear. She really wanted to. But Danny was a keen poker player, and he knew her tells. He knew when she was lying.

Instead she bit her lip and forced a smile. "Let's get through Christmas first, and worry about the rest later shall we?" 

Danny blinked. He wasn't expecting her to dodge the question. He wanted to push her for an answer, but he couldn't. Fear held him back. If that answer wasn't what he wanted then - Danny sniffed and gave a slight nod.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm uh, I'm gonna check in on Grace. I won't be long," he said.

Rachel nodded back, but she wouldn't meet his eye. Checkers went scurrying after her. Danny finally shut the door as he shed his coat, but he made sure to grab the toy from his pocket first.

He pressed the door open as quietly as he could to sneak into Grace's room. The cot took up half of the wall, and a nursing table took up the other half. A rocking chair was set up in the corner back when Rachel was trying to breast feed - Grace just wouldn't take to it - and what little room was left was lit up with a soft blue glow from a projector. It played a gentle lullaby and shone silvery silhouettes of sea creatures across the room as it rotated.

Not that Grace could appreciate it. She was out for the count.

"Hey, there's my baby girl! Look at you, you're so perfect..." Danny breathed gently.

He leaned against the frame of the cot to watch her sleep. She looked so precious. So calm and peaceful and quiet. Everything she wasn’t when she was awake. Danny leaned in to run a knuckle along her cheek softly. She was so warm bundled up in her blanket that her cheeks were as pink as her hat. Her tiny fingers were balled up into fists above her head as she slept. Teeny tiny delicate little fingers that had gripped him as tight as a monkey from the first moment he held her.

Danny heaved a heavy sigh. In six short months she had gotten so much bigger than the tiny bundle he had carried home. And he had missed so much of it for work. He hated that. 

"I'm sorry I didn't get to be Santa for you Gracie. I promise you that next year I'll be on time. No matter what I will make sure I'm there for you. But uh, just for now, while mommy isn't looking, you can have an early Christmas present." 

He reached down to pick up the toy he had found for her from where he'd set it on the ground. It was a plush cuddly monkey with a long tail and big round ears. It had a silly smile and warm embroidered eyes. He hoped it was worth being late home for.

"See this? Of course you can't you're asleep," he muttered to himself. "Anyway this is a monkey for my little monkey. When you get a little bigger and I get a day off I'll take you out to the zoo and we can see them for real... I'll make sure of it." 

Grace said nothing. She made no sound. Gave no indication that she even knew he was there. She just kept breathing the long shaky breaths that babies give while they sleep. Danny sighed. As long as he kept missing days like this and coming home when she was already asleep she would never know her father. The thought of that broke his heart. 

It was then and there he vowed to take no more voluntary overtime as long as he had Grace waiting for him to come home.

"Sweet dreams baby girl. Daddy loves you," he whispered.

He leaned in to lay a kiss gently on her head. She stirred, but didn't wake up. Danny breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t. The last thing he needed was Grace crying and Rachel being furious with him. Not after the day he had.

He set the monkey into the cot beside Grace, careful to ensure she couldn't smother herself with it accidentally. It was nearly the same size as her after all. 

As he left, Grace stretched out in her sleep. She shuffled to roll on her side, and clung to her new companion. Grace nestled close to her monkey.  
It was soft and warm and it smelt like someone who cared about her.

This was her first Christmas present ever and she loved it.


	2. First Christmas Without Rachel

Poitier shoved Danny's head playfully as he passed by his desk. Danny grumbled at him and moved to automatically fix his hair. Poitier laughed and sat down Behind his table again. 

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

Danny glared at him, "what does it look like, I'm working."

"What happened to no more over time?" Poitier asked.

"I've got a lot of paper work building up and its not like I’ve got anything better for me waiting at home," Danny grumbled bitterly.

"I thought you took Christmas off to be with Grace every year?" Poitier frowned.

It had been a big fuss to get Danny out of here for Christmas. He had done so much over time in summer to build up his availability that Poitier had caught him sleeping on the couch in the break room multiple times. He always insisted it was worth it for Christmas with his daughter. 

"I did, but that was uh, that was before my witch of an almost ex wife decided to take my daughter away from me for most of the year," Danny stated.

Ah. Of course. The battle between Rachel and Danny had been more like a war. The only grace in it was their daughter. 

"So you don't get to see her at all this Christmas?" Poitier asked. 

"Her lawyers are trying to argue that since she’s English and doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, I should have Grace for that and she can have Grace for Christmas," Danny explained. 

"That sounds nice," Poitier said.

"It's not," Danny stated. 

"No?"

"Christmas is the superior holiday!" Danny cried. Poitier cursed up his breath. He had trigged another Danny rant and they both knew it. "Last year I dressed up as Santa for her and Grace just got this look on her face like- like magic is real, y’know? That look, it's this wonderful thing, it's amazing, she's got the most vivid imagination and at Christmas it all comes out to play. It's the most amazing look in the world and it only happens at Christmas but now - oh now _he_ gets that look. Mr wonderful-hey-look-at-me -i've-got-bags-of-money-ample-time-to-spend-with-your-daughter-and-I'm-sleeping-with-your-wife, _h_ _e_ gets that look. Me, I get turkey!"

Danny huffed bitterly and shook his head. Out of all the miserably hung decorations draped across the precinct, Danny looked the least Christmassy. Poitier forced a smile.

"That’s a pretty long name, I wonder how often he gets asked to spell it," he joked.

Danny wasn’t in the joking mood. "She says he hasn't even met Grace yet but I bet she's lying. I bet he's met her plenty of times and he's gonna use his bags of money to buy her all the toys she wants and he's going to move into my house and live with my wife and my kid in my city while I'm in a crappy apartment paying for him to look after my daughter. And I don't even get to see the look!" 

He threw his pen across his desk in frustration and dropped back into his chair bitterly. Poitier could see just by the look on his face that this wasn't all about Grace. Divorce proceedings were hard enough alone, but knowing your ex already had a new partner made it that much harder. Especially if part of you was still in love. When Danny fell in love, he never fully fell out again. 

"Hey, Williams, I'm sorry I asked man. Honestly I was just trying to make small talk, but dyou want a candy cane or something?" Poitier shrugged helplessly. 

Danny glared at him again. "Do I want- how would a candy cane help?!"

"It'll stop you being able to complain while you eat it," Poitier smirked. 

"Get away from my desk," Danny spat.

Poitier didn’t need telling twice. He stood up, but paused to pull a candy cane out of his pocket and laid it wordlessly on Danny's desk. Danny eyed him as he walked over to his own desk. He wouldn't tell Danny why he had candy canes in his pocket but Danny knew the answer. 

When Poitier's daughter got sick over Christmas last year they had discovered that children on the ward didn't have candy. They didn't have much if anything festive. So he and his wife had taken to ensuring any kid who physically and medically could have a candy cane got one. Some had to be sugar free and some had to be miniature, but Poitier and his wife had dedicated themselves to the task. Now he carried a pocket full with him from November to February just in case.

Danny felt a tug of guilt. He might not be seeing Grace on Christmas day but at least she was healthy. At least she was safe. 

He tucked the candy cane into his jacket pocket and tried to put his complaints to rest for the rest of their shift.

...

Grace was bouncing on her feet excitedly as Rachel opened the front door. The door was barely open before Grace shoved her way through to get to her father.

"Danno!" She cried. 

"Monkey!" He beamed. 

He leaned down as she threw herself against his chest and swept her off her feet. One of his arms moved to secure her rear as he hugged her with the other and spun them both around happily. She squealed with laughter as she did. The plush monkey in her hand swung loose but she held it too tightly to let it drop. 

Rachel watched as Danny set Grace back on the floor, knelt to her height and held her hands in his. Both of them had beams on their faces. Utter, sheer grins of delight and affection. They loved each other so endlessly it was visible. 

Rachel felt a stab of guilt. She hated to keep the two of them apart, but Danny's job was dangerous. Rachel couldn't stand the utter fear in her chest every time he was late home, which he was endlessly. When he was home they argued. They made each other and Grace miserable. It was better for all of them if they went their own ways.

But Grace was so happy when Danny was back.  
She clung to Danny's hand with one hand and had her you monkey pinned to her chest with her other. Her smile was breath-taking. Danny's faded when he turned to face Rachel. 

"Anything I need to know?"

It took Rachel a moment to remember that their relationship had ended. That as much as she cared for him still, he hated her for making herself a priority. That he wasn't happy to see her. That the look of infatuation had faded from his eyes. When he looked at her like that, she knew there was no salvaging what they had. It hurt, but it was for the best. 

"Uh, no. No, I don't think so. I've packed her weekend bag-" she began.

"Weekend?" Danny repeated in hopeful surprise.

Rachel wrinkled her nose. "Don't get excited, I just didn't have another bag, I'll still be picking her up in the morning."

 _"You_ will?" Danny repeated as he took the bag from her.

"Yes Danny, _I_ will, who else?!" She asked plainly.

Danny would have said something. Part of him wanted to. He wanted to know who this guy was and if he had met Grace yet, but he couldn't bare the idea of knowing. If he had met Grace then that was it. She had found someone new and there was no salvaging what they had had.

"I'll see you in the morning," he muttered, "say bye Grace."

"Bye Gracie," Rachel waved slightly, smiling even though seeing Danny made her want to cry.

"Bye mommy," Grace waved, beaming.

She was delighted to be able to spend more time with her father. The two of them went walking down the street bundled up in warm clothes to avoid the cold. Grace held onto Danny's hand tightly, swinging both of their arms as they went.

"Hey monkey, I've got an idea, how about you and me go meet Santa, wouldn't that be so cool huh?!" Danny grinned.

"I already saw Santa," Grace said.

Danny's face fell, "You did?"

"Uhuh, mommy took me to the mall with her friend and I got to sit on Santa's knee and tell him what I want for Christmas all by myself!" Grace beamed. 

"That's great monkey. What did you ask for?" Danny asked. 

"A pet monkey," Grace grinned. 

"A pet monkey? Why would Santa give us another monkey?" Danny asked.

Grace gave him a puzzled look, "Another monkey?"

"Well we already have one," Danny teased. 

"We don't have a monkey Danno!" Grace giggled.

"We don’t?" 

"No!"

"But what about that one?"

"What one?"

"The one right in front of me."

"I'm not a monkey Danno!"

"You sure because you sure look like one to me!"

Danny playfully twisted her arm around her middle to pin her to his legs and tickle her middle until she squealed with laughter and wriggled to get away. Danny let get go as they reached his car. Once free, Grace dove for shelter in the back of his car, still grinning as she did. Danny leaned in to buckle her in safely.

"Don't forget monkey!" Grace said.

Danny nodded. He took her plush monkey from her hands, set it in the seat beside her and buckled him in too. Grace gave a nod of satisfaction. Danny's heart warmed for her. That protective streak in her came from him. He was more than slightly proud of it. Danny tickled her neck one last time as he passed.

"Danno!" She giggled, "You’re goofy!"

"Yeah I am, I'm very goofy," Danny chuckled.

He ducked out of the car long enough to climb into the drivers seat. It was only around then that his mind went over their conversation. He glanced back at her in the rear view mirror. 

"Hey, uh, who did you say you went to see Santa with?" He asked.

"Mommy," she said.

Danny glanced at her again. "Just Mommy?"

"Yep. Just mommy and her friend," Grace nodded.

Danny's heart beat a little faster. "Her friend huh? What uh, what, what friend?"

"I don’t know, I forgot his name and I was too scared to ask again," Grace admitted.

 _His._ The word reverberated through him like a tightly coiled fraying wire suddenly snapping apart and spinning through him. The blow to his chest was so hard that if he hadn't been sitting he might have collapsed. 

But he didn't want his daughter to see his devastation. 

"You don't need to be scared to ask people their names Gracie, it's a polite thing to do," Danny assured her.

"It is?" She asked uncertainly. 

"Yeah of course otherwise we wouldn't have names would we? Because we wouldn't know anyone’s names," Danny forced a smile as he said it.

"Oh."

Grace's innocent mind hadn’t considered that. All she knew was that she had to be polite because being polite was being kind. And that if someone wasn't polite, if they were actually very rude and hurt her feelings, it was not okay to fight them like her cousin Eric taught her to, even if Uncle Vito and Uncle Matthew praised her for it later.

"What do you say we go see grandma? I hear she's baking Santa cookies," Danny asked.

Grace beamed again, "Yum!"

Danny was already indicating to turn around and run back to his childhood home before he asked. His head was fogging up with doubts and he needed someone to talk to who would tell him he was being ridiculous. That this was nothing. That they would get over this blip, ignored the divorce papers that had already been filed, and find a way to pull themselves back from the brink.

While they waited for the cookies to bake, Grace watched cartoons with Eric in the living room, and the grown ups crammed into the kitchen where she wouldn't overhear them.

"It could be nothing," Matt said.

"Yeah or it could be her new man who she swears has never met Grace! We agreed not to let Grace meet anyone who wasn't serious so she wouldn't get confused or upset-" Danny paced the floor as he ranted.

"Well it sounds to me like you’re the one who's upset," Clara interrupted. 

"I'm the one- can you blame me?!" Danny cried, "My daughter's meeting Santa without me because she's going with some guy I've never met! How am I supposed to believe my daughter is safe with Rachel when she's lying to me about who she’s around?!"

"Maybe she didn’t want you doing a background check on the guy," Matt shrugged. 

"Hey, I'm a cop! She’s my daughter! It's my duty to use whatever resources I have to protect her!" Danny argued defensively. 

Matt wasn't overly sympathetic to Danny's pains. He tried to be, but his perfect big brother had always been the apple of his fathers eye and honestly, seeing him knocked off his perch made him feel slightly smug. Which made him feel awful because his brother was in pain and he hated seeing it. So he kept trying to help, even though he wasn't sure how.

"What if he’s a criminal?! How would I be a responsible father if I let my baby girl be looked after by a criminals whor-" 

_"DANIEL!"_

Danny's heart leapt into his throat as Clara slammed the rolling pin onto the side furiously. A cloud of flour rose around them. Matt slipped quietly off of his stool and over to where his father was standing, way out of his mother's path to Danny so he wouldn’t be caught in the cross fire.

Clara lowered her voice and hissed, "She may have upset you but she's still your daughters mother and you will not call her that in my house!"

Danny hung his head in shame and muttered, "Sorry ma..."

And he was. Sometimes his emotions got carried away from him and he said things without thinking and he regretted that. But as long as he was in Jersey, he would always have his family here to keep him on the right path.

"I just don't know what to do. If this is a serious relationship then I could really lose her," he sighed.

He leaned helplessly on the side as his shoulders sagged. Behind him, he heard his father sigh. A hand found its way to his shoulder blades and he didn’t need to look up to know who it belonged to. 

"The trouble is son, you're clinging to this idea that you can get her back."

"I love her pop," Danny muttered desperately. 

"And you always will. She's given you the best thing you can ever have in life. But it's time to move on. The more you resist that the more it's going to hurt," Eddie explained, sympathetically. 

"It's Christmas. There could be a miracle," Danny said.

"This isn’t a movie Danny," Matt warned.

He didn’t really believe it was possible, but he hoped it was. Something in him was desperately clinging to the idea that somehow some Christmas magic would fix everything for them. But it didn’t work like that. Danny felt hit tears sting at the corner of his eyes at the growing pit of agony in his stomach. 

"What the hell happened? I still can't wrap my head around it. We were happy... we had Grace... everything was going so great, and now - it's like we can't even be in the same room without arguing! How did this happen?" 

"Forget about Rachel. Focus on the one woman in your life who actually matters," Eddie said, firmly. 

"Ma," Matt agreed brightly.

It won a snicker from Danny but Eddie gave him a look that said if he was just a couple of steps closer he'd smack him up the back of the head.

 _"Grace_ you lummox!" Eddie huffed.

Clara winked at Danny and the leaned one hand against the edge of the table and one on her hip to raise an eyebrow at her husband. 

"Are you saying I'm not a woman in Danny's life that matters?"

Danny snickered again. A life time ago his mother had worked in a roadside diner - the kind where the uniform is a pink skirt and a little white apron and hair cover that barely covered your forehead. The kind where truckers would come in and try to make trouble and Clara would have to turn them out on their ass with just her attitude to back her up. She was not a woman to be trifled with, so of course it took a man trained for tackling blazing infernos for her to finally settle down.

"Why are you kicking up an argument, you're supposed to be on my side!" Eddie argued.

"If it comes to a choice between a partner or a child, a good parent always chooses their child," Clara stated.

Eddie raised a hand to gesture to her and looked to Danny, "Is that not what I just said?"

Danny laughed. It wasn't anything particularly funny that made him do it, but he couldn't hold it back. He was home, in his childhood kitchen, with the house full of the smell of ginger bread baking, while his parents bickered like they weren't utterly devoted to one another even though everyone knew they were, and Matt by the door pulling faces at them. If his sisters were here to yell at them for stealing the bowl to lick when they had done all the hard work, this would be like every Christmas he remembered growing up. Simpler times. Happier times. 

Now the bowl was in the living room being cleaned off by Eric because Danny told Grace he wouldn't risk her getting salmonella. Uncle Matt, however, being her favourite (and only) uncle, had snuck Clara's messy wooden spoon out to her so she wouldn't miss out on the fun. Danny was aware of this fact, but it was one of those things in life where a little bit of performance was necessary just for the sake of it.

Danny had to make sure she didn't get sick so the blame wouldn't be on him, but he wanted her to have some fun, and Matt had to be the fun uncle who let her do sneaky but ultimately harmless things for the sheer joy of it. That's what childhood was, and what family was for.

When the oven buzzed, Grace came hurrying in with both the bowl and the spoon to be cleaned. 

"Are the cookies ready grandma?!" She asked eagerly.

"Almost baby, they just need to cool down - hey!" Clara smacked Grace's hand as she reached up for a cookie. "These are _hot!_ They'll burn your fingers off! Help me make some icing while they cool."

Clara set the baking tray on a cooling rack on one side of the room before returning to the table to set up the icing bowls. Grace tugged at her uncle's pants.

"Uncle Matt lift me up," she ordered.

He snorted at her demands but nodded. "Sure thing super Grace!"

Matt set his hands on her middle and made spaceship sounds with his mouth as he pretended to launch her into the air. She giggles as he twisted her through the room on a slightly wavy course to the stool he was just sitting on. She giggled as he did. When he set her down, she climbed onto her knees to reach further across the table. She paused when she glanced up at her father. 

He forced a smile, but his eyes were red, and he had damp eyelashes. Something wasn't right. She could feel it.

"You okay Danno?" She asked.

Danny forced his smile wider, "Me? Of course I'm okay monkey. I’m more than okay? Y’know why?"

"Why?" She asked, innocently. 

"Because you’re here. And you’re my number one most important thing in the world, you know that?" He nudged her gently as he spoke.

She beamed and nodded, "Uhuh, and number two doesn’t even come close!"

"That’s exactly right!" He instinctively laid a kiss into her head and firmly said, "I love you."

Grace grinned, satisfied that he was okay, and turned her attention back to the bowl that had been placed in front of her. Clara set her hands on her hips.

"Now, what colours do we need for Christmas cookies Gracie?" She asked. 

"Blue!" Grace declared. 

Clara glanced over at Eddie. He had said to get the primary colours - you had all the colours if you had the primary colours - but she had ignored him. He said nothing now, but the cocky look on his face spoke volumes.

"Blue?" She repeated.

"Because it's cold out and when you’re cold your lips turn blue!" Grace nodded.

"Can't argue with that!" Matt chuckled.

"That's a really good point but I don’t have any blue dye. Sorry Gracie," Clara pulled a face apologetically. 

"What colours do we have?" Grace asked. 

"I've got green and red and white and black and pink! Which one do you want?" Clara grinned. 

"Mmm, red," Grace decided. 

"Red it is!" Danny declared.

Grace's face was a picture as she slathered runny red icing across her Christmas tree shaped cookie. This impromptu decorating session didn't have many decorations on offer, but Eric had begrudgingly donated his chocolate buttons to it when Grace asked him to. She needed them for the buttons on her bright green snowman with the garish pink scarf she had drizzled across his neck. Compared to hers, everyone else had normal and frankly boring looking decorations on theirs.

Danny was glad to see her creative flare hadn't been dampened by him leaving the house. He had no idea what affects this divorce would have on Grace, but he kept searching for them. Worrying about them. Alone he could go two days without eating because he forgot to, but the moment Grace entered his custody he ensured both them were well taken care of. Which is another reason why they were at his parents house.

His apartment had nothing but a microwave and a fridge. There was damp on the walls, and almost nothing in the kitchen. He never liked taking Grace back there. He hadn’t even tried decorating it until Rachel agreed to let him have Grace for Christmas eve. Then up went a tree that he had to buy for himself because Rachel had taken all their decorations. Including their stockings. It was a strange thing to be bitter about, but he had paid for half of them at least. By all rights they were his.

But Clara had the tree up and decorated, all their stockings hanging by the fire place still (Grace's, Eric's and Sophia's included) a big green wreath on the door, and lights all over the place. And she fed them. Okay she only fed them cookies when they were there and she sent them home with extra for Santa, but she also made sure Danny took a frozen lasagna with him. Matt would make sure he ate it. 

He was lucky to have his family so close and he knew it. But it didn’t make it any easier to tuck Grace up in his bed in his crappy apartment knowing he was going to have to sleep on the couch. As long as Grace was happy and comfortable it was a sacrifice worth making.

"What toy do you wanna sleep with huh? Angelina, Mr Penguin-"

"Monkey!"

"Of course."

Danny smiled as he picked up the monkey from the floor and laid it down beside Grace. She was much bigger than her toy now, and his fur had worn in small patches here and there, but she still loved it and that warmed his heart. 

"Can Checkers stay too?" She asked hopefully. 

"Of course he can. You remember how to whistle for him like I showed you?" Danny asked.

Grace nodded. She sat up to concentrate as she put her fingers on both corners of her mouth and whistled like she was hailing a cab. A key skill for someone growing up in the city. There was a scurry of paws as Checkers scampered across the hard wood floor to find them. He practically leapt on the bed to slobber Grace with kisses. She squealed, giggling and disgusted. Danny laughed as he watched the light sparkle in her eyes. 

He wasn't sure if she could even remember him living with her this time last year anymore. She seemed to have settled into this new reality without a second thought. As much as that ached in him, he was glad that she didn’t have to suffer the agony of loss that he did.

"Excellent job baby. You comfortable? Amazing. Settle in, let me get comfy here, let's see now... Twas The Night Before Christmas, this one's a classic."

Danny shuffled in to lie on the very edge of his bed, so his daughter could see the pictures and his dog could rest his wiry head on her middle. Grace kept her eyes open for as long as she possibly could, but sleep was too hard to fight forever. Checkers was snoring before she was, but she followed him anywhere. 

Danny ran a hand across her cheek as she sleep peacefully, calmly, blissfully on his pillow. Nothing had changed about this. She still looked angelic when she finally drifted off. It never failed to amaze him how someone so fully of energy all day could clonk out so completely at night. But it was part of why he loved her so much. Because she was her.  
Danny left the bedside lamp on as he snuck quietly out of the room. He left the door slightly ajar too, just in case he was needed. But alone in his living room, he let out a deep and heavy sigh.

This place was woefully unmerry.

All he had was an undecorated tree in the corner of the room with one present underneath it, and the special Santa plate they had brought years back to sit Santa's cookies on. Thankfully not the ones Grace had decorated though. They were dripping in sugar and he couldn't bare the idea of actually eating one. Far too messy. 

Danny moved his coat from the couch and felt something hard in his pocket. Curiously he slipped his hand it. Out came the candy cane. Danny sighed again. 

Those children in hospital had had a bad Christmas for sure, but he had no idea if Grace had. Even if she had would she remember it? Minds are tricky things, especially children's. Maybe if he just pretended this was the best Christmas ever she'd believe him.

Although that would require feeling Christmassy and Danny just didn't. All he could think about was what he had already missed out on, and what he was going to miss out on next if he and Rachel couldn’t work things out.

This was his least favourite Christmas ever.   
With that in mind, he hung the candy cane on the tree and settled down on the couch to eat Santa's cookies and watch It's A Wonderful Life. 

"It better be soon," he muttered.

...

Grace was up before Danny was. She scrambled across the apartment as quickly as Checkers could, and he stayed close to her in case she slipped.

Danny didn’t have carpet and it different for Checkers to get a grip on the floor. Monkey laid abandoned in Danny's bed as Grace scrambled to get onto the couch beside her father. Checkers leapt easily onto the couch by Danny's feet and scrambled up over his side to get to his face. Grace giggled madly as she watched Checkers tail beat like a whip to wake Danny up. She shook him to join in.

"Come on Danno it's Christmas!"

"Yeah it is," Danny groaned. 

His voice croaked in his exhaustion. Sleeping on the couch gave him aching bones, but with his dog on his lap and his daughter by his side, it was worth it. Grace waited for Danny to sit up before diving under the tree for the single, haphazardly wrapped present underneath it. 

"Can I open this now Danno, can I?!" She begged eagerly.

"Well sure, it's Christmas isn’t it?!" Danny smirked.

Grace squealed with excitement as she tore the wrapping paper away like a big cat flexing her claws. Danny chuckled as the paper flew around him like confetti. Christmas was different this year. Less merry. He couldn't afford more then one present for her after paying child support and rent.

But Grace didn't care.

She was far too excited to let the amount of presents get her down. Besides, Rachel had promised her two Christmases from now on, so there was plenty more waiting for her at home.

Danny wasn't thrilled by his present to her. In fact part of him regretted it. A cop getting his daughter a toy cop car for Christmas? It was a little on the nose. He didn't want to push her into anything. But she beamed to see it. Grace was racing circles around the couch, driving the car along the arms and down the back, making siren noises as she went. Danny tucked his feet up under him on the couch with his coffee as he watched her go. 

Grace could see the good in anything. Danny loved her so much for that alone. Especially when he was struggling to see any good in anything. Which was mostly at times like this, when Rachel knocked on his front door. Danny's heart dropped. She was early. Way too early. He hadn't even gotten around to making breakfast yet. They had only eaten last nights cookies. Teeth hadn’t even been brushed! They weren't dressed! He glanced back at Grace as she crawled along the floor, pretending to be the car's driver pulling over a suspect. She didn't notice the knock at the door.

For a brief, hopeful, fleeting moment, Danny dared to dream that he could ignore Rachel. That if he just didn’t answer she would go away. He could have Gracie all to himself for the day. 

But life wasn't that kind, and neither was Rachel.

"Daniel come on! I don't have all day, open the door!" 

That sharp British accent made things sound harsher than they were meant to be. The snarky, sarcastic, Jersey side of him had been drawn to that. Now it just ruffled his feathers. He unlatched the door and went back to his seat. Rachel opened the door herself and huffed impatiently.

It was petty, but satisfying. 

Checkers recognised her instantly and his tail beat so hard that the thump could be heard from the doorway. He barked excitedly as he skidded over. Grace giggled. Checkers claws scattered on the smooth wood floors as he ran, which made him looked like Bambi on ice.

"Go get dressed monkey," Danny said quietly.

Part of him hoped she would refuse and demand to stay, but she didn’t. She didn’t like to cause problems. Reluctantly Grace stood up and hurried back to the bedroom to change. 

Rachel beamed as the wiry mutt bounced at her legs. “Hello Checkers! Hi! Glad someone here is still glad to see me."

"Yeah well dogs have a sense of loyalty y’know? Something you might not understand," Danny stated, bitterly. 

Rachel let out a sigh tinged with a groan, "Oh God what do you thinks happened now?"

She knew Danny well enough to know when something was irritating him. He wasn't subtle about it. He wasn’t even overly passive aggressive, he just got snarky and irritating right back. Honestly Rachel was glad she didn’t have to deal with it on a daily basis anymore. 

"You went to see Santa at the mall," Danny stated.

Rachel waited for more, and blinked when it didn’t come. "Yes, and?"

"Just you and Grace," Danny said to the TV screen. Then he rolled his head to look at her as he added, darkly, "and your _friend."_

Rachel's eyes widened as she instantly leapt into defensive mode. "Ah, no! No, no, no we didn't go _with_ him, Stan just happened to be-"

"Stan?"

Danny sat up and twisted to look directly at her. Rachel bit her lip. She had said too much. The look of hurt betrayal in his eyes was worse than she had expected. At least it wasn’t as smug.

"Stan, as in your cooking class friend Stan? you don't need to worry we're just friends Stan, that Stan?"

She bowed her head guilty, which she didn't think was fair but she couldn't fight against it. 

"You’re blowing this way out of proportion," she said, quietly. 

"Is that what you thinks or what Stan thinks?" Danny sniped.

Rachel's head rose slightly as the guilt fell back. It was hard to feel bad about hurting someone who never even tried to see things her way.

"I have my own mind Danny," she said.

"Do you? How much of this divorce was down to Stan huh?" Danny huffed.

Rachel's jaw clenched. "None of it, as it happens-"

"I'm sure!" Danny scoffed.

" _As it happens_ ," Rachel snarled pointedly, "Stan and I aren't even dating!"

Danny's face fell at the news. The guilt in his eyes was obvious as his mouth fell open. He had jumped to conclusions, which was a big no-no in his career, let alone a relationship. You know what they say about assumptions. 

"You're not?" He repeated, uncertainly.

Rachel's face twitched and she lowered her gaze to mutter, "well not officially."

Danny's anger was spun back into action, faster than before this time because he couldn’t believe he'd actually fallen for her arguments and technicalities. 

"Oh well as long as it's non official men hanging around my daughter-" he began, sarcastically. 

"That's not what happened, you’re being so childish!" Rachel snapped.

"Childish?! We agreed-" 

Danny began to raise his voice but Grace came hurrying back into the room and Rachel cut him off sharply, plastering on a large fake smile as she did.

"Hello darling! Have you got everything packed?" She asked cheerfully.

Grace nodded, but pointed to her shoe. "Checkers ate my shoelaces."

"Oh dear. We'll have to buy you new ones then won't we? Maybe Santa will bring some for Christmas," Rachel winked.

"Or maybe you can use it as an excuse to meet Stan at the mall," Danny muttered under his breath. 

Rachel's eyes flicked onto him and Danny felt a tidal wave of shame hit him instantly. He really hadn’t meant to be heard. Rachel's smile stayed firmly, even as her eyes sparkled with fury.

"Darling where's monkey?" Rachel asked.

Grace gasped as she realised she had left her favourite toy on her fathers bed. "Oh no!"

Danny's heart sank as he watched her rush to find it. The moment she was out of earshot Rachel was going to give him a bollocking and honestly, he couldn't blame her. Once Grace was gone, Rachel stepped forward to hiss at him.

"I'm sorry-" he began instantly but it was too late.

" _How dare you speak to me like that in front of her?_!"

"I crossed a line-"

"I am still her mother, and we _agreed-"_

That was too far. "Oh wait hang on, _now_ we agreed?! Now what we agreed matters after you broke our no non serious partners agreement-"

Rachel's hands flew up near her head as she tensed her fingers in frustration. "I can't - I cannot deal with you like with anymore Daniel-"

"Like what, like a partner you're lying to?!" Danny hissed.

"We're not partners anymore Daniel! We're splitting up!" She hissed.

"And who's decision was that because it wasn't mine!"

Rachel stared at him. Her hands fell loose by her sides. Danny's heart thumped as he held her gaze. He didn't want to give her the satisfaction of hearing the ball forming in his throat, so he refused to speak. He focused hard on holding back the tears in his eyes. Rachel just kept staring, like she couldn't even recognize the man in front of her. Someone she had once loved so fully. So deeply. It stunned her that they could have drifted so far apart to be able to hurt each other like this. 

And she couldn't take it anymore.

"If you have anything else to say to me that isn't urgently about Grace's safety then you can say it through my lawyer," she decided. 

The decision was the hardest for her to make, but it had to be done. Trying to settle this one on one was too much like entering a dog fight every time they saw each other. It hurt too much. But the idea of never seeing Rachel at all hurt Danny even more. It just came off as anger.

"You're going to the lawyers? Real classy move, good job-"

"Come on Grace we're leaving!"

"You can't just do this, this isn't fair-"

"Grace!"

The bickering stopped as Grace came back into view again. If lawyers had their way Danny wouldn't get to see her as much as he had recently, which felt like no time at all already. The idea was too much to bare. If he had already lost Rachel, he wasn't about to let her take Grace too.

"Hey, hey, monkey, slow down."

Grace had been hurrying over to her mother, as she always did when she was called like that. Emotions ran high when her mother sounded so sharp, and even if she didn't understand why, Grace was always more obedient when Rachel was upset. But when Danny called her too, she had to pause. She glanced back to her mother, uncertainly, but walked to her father. 

Danny knelt down to her level and pulled her into a hug so tight that she couldn't move her arms to hug him back. He didn't want to let go. He didn’t want her to go. He wanted to hold onto her forever, like the rest of the world didn't exist and the two of them could find happiness in this crappy apartment alone but together. 

But he had to let go eventually.

As he did, his hands slid down her arms to hold onto hers and he looked her in the eye. She looked so confused and such a picture of innocence that it ached in his chest. 

"You know you’re the most important thing in my life. And number two doesn’t even come close! Remember that for me okay?" He said.

He was pleased to keep the tremor out of his voice as he spoke, but Grace still looked confused. she nodded back.

"I know Danno."

"Okay... Gimme a big hug, come on. You’ve got magical hugs monkey..."

Grace wrapped her arms around his neck. In one hand she clung onto her monkey and in the other her cop car. Danny hated the idea that those two toys could very quickly become all she had left of him if Rachel and Stan fought him. Those two had back up now. Danny was all alone.

He sniffed as he pulled back from Grace and forced a smile. "See? Magic! Go on, go with your mom. Danno loves you."

Rachel kept her head down so Danny wouldn't see the hot tears stinging at her eyes. She wouldn't dare to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much this hurt her. That she wasn't strong enough to do this alone, and was leaning so heavily on the one support she had left outside of him. She couldn't bare the snarky comments that could open her too. She refused to let him see her vulnerable. 

Rachel took her daughter's hand and practically dragged her out of the door, muttering, "Come on Grace," as she did.

Grace let her mother lead her away with one arm, and waved with her toys in the other. 

"Bye Danno, love you!" She called.

"Bye monkey," Danny waved back.

"Merry Christmas!" She called happily. 

"Merry-"

The words died in Danny's throat, strangled by the ache in it. He watched her drift away, further and further, getting smaller and smaller until he couldn't see her anymore. Danny shut the front door, and slid down it onto the floor. Tears were already rolling down his cheeks before he hit the ground. 

This was _Christmas._

It was a time for miracles and love and happiness and _family._

And he didn't have any, anymore.

His apartment was so cramped that when he shifted to bring his knees up to his chin, his heel caught on the tree stand. The tree shuddered. Down came the single decorative candy cane, and smashed on the floor.

Checkers whined softly, utterly confused by the situation. He snuffled at the candy cane with his nose, and nudged it towards his master. Danny's face was buried in his hands as he sobbed through his breaking heart. Checkers barked to get his attention. 

It was purely instinctive that Danny looked up.   
Checkers tail wagged as he nudged the candy cane closer, and laid down by Danny's legs. Danny's breath was too shaky to control, but he reached for the candy cane anyway. Checkers tail beat a little harder. He shuffled forward on his belly to reach for a stroke. Danny managed a strangled laugh as his hand rested on his dog's head. 

Grace always found the good in things, so he had to try too, and there was a sliver of good in today. He had seen Grace. She had woken up here. She had been happy here. And he wasn't entirely alone right now. He had his dog, and his dog loved him devotedly. 

At least he still had that. 

It wasn't much, but it was a start, and he needed this sliver of good desperatly right now. 

"Merry Christmas Checkers," Danny muttered through a shaky breath. Then, for purely his own benefit, he added, "Ya filthy animal."


	3. Danny's First Good Hawaiian Christmas

Steve scowled as he watched his partner swagger down the path towards them, holding onto a coffee cup as he went. The coffee cup was a decoy. It was full of hot chocolate, as if Hawaii needed any additional heat. Danny just liked to cling to traditions like this. It reminded him of home, and at this time of year, he needed that more than ever.

"What've we got?" Danny asked as he reached his team. He looked to Steve for answers but he was just met with a quizzical glare. "What, what's the matter, you're looking at me weird? I got something in my teeth, what?!"

"What are you doing here?" Steve demanded.

Now Danny looked puzzled. "At a murder scene? I came to practice drawing chalk outlines - what'd you think I'm doing here ya idiot I’m here to work."

"No you’re not," Steve stated firmly.

Danny shifted slightly to angle himself towards Steve, already impatient with his cryptic attitude. Chin and Kono shared knowing looks and settled in for yet another domestic. 

"What are you talking about? Did you hit your head on a cloud or something? What'd you mean I'm not here to work?!" Danny huffed.

Kono groaned. It was a weak start. Danny always attacked Steve's height when he was struggling.   
"You're not working today, go home," Steve ordered. 

Danny scoffed, "Don’t be stupid Steve-"

"You're the only one here with a kid Danny," Steve interrupted, firmly. "A kid who deserves to be with her father on Christmas eve. And you'd rather be there than here anyway so this will cut down on your bitching so we can concentrate and actually get the job done so we can go home for Christmas too, right?"

"Right!" Kono agreed.

Danny's mouth gaped in surprise. He never asked for today off. He wouldn’t. He knew fate wasn’t kind enough to let him have just one Christmas eve with his daughter that didn't go without a hitch. But he wasn't the kind of man who would back down from a case if he was needed. 

"I'm not going to leave you all to work without me-" he began.

"Hey, we've got HPD all over this and it looks like your average hit and run. We've got this," Steve said stubbornly.

To his credit, this already seemed like an open and shut case. They had CCTV pointed across the road, they had a witness who called 911, none of them were entirely sure why they had even bothered to call Five-O in. As far as they were concerned, they weren't needed. 

"Looks like we don't need you," Chin said to Danny.

He meant it kindly, but Danny couldn't help but feel like he was being singled out. Left out of the team just because he had responsibilities elsewhere. Not that he was complaining about having more time with Grace, he would never do that, but he didn't want anyone on the team to think he was pulling rank. 

"I don't see why we're here at all if its such an open and shut case!" He argued.

"We still need someone to do the busy work," Steve said. Before Danny could argue, Steve looked up at Chin and Kono. "I probably only need one of you two so if you want to make a choice-"

Kono grinned at her cousin, "Rock paper scissors for it?"

Chin smirked back. Rock paper scissors was definitely an improvement on her last way of settling things, by way of arm wrestling. At least he stood a chance at beating her this way. But she had family who were waiting for her at home to celebrate with them, and Chin, well... Coming from a long line of cops was something he was proud of, but with internal affairs keeping a firm eye on him at all times a shadow had been cast on all of them, and he wasn’t exactly made to feel welcome. 

"You go. I've got nothing special waiting for me at home, might as well stick around," Chin assured her.

She hesitated. She didn't want anyone to think she was taking an easy option because she was unwilling to stay - not that any of them even considered that - and she didn't want Chin to be alone for Christmas. Even so, with her mother being ill she had no idea how much time they had left together and she wanted the holidays to be happy memories when she looked back on them later.

"You sure cuz?" She asked. 

"I'm sure," Chin nodded.

That was all the permission she needed. "Awesome then I'll see you all after Christmas, mele kalikimaka!"

She threw up a shakra as she back away from the body and left the boys chuckling to themselves as she went. Danny, however, didn’t move. 

"So it's just going to be two of you working this case?" He asked.

"We will call you if anything important happens, go home Danny," Steve promised.

Danny hummed dubiously. His definition of important didn't match Steve's. Neither did their decisions following said importance. Steve liked to run in guns blazing, while Danny liked to keep people safe. He turned to Chin.

"Why aren't you fighting to go home too?" He challenged.

"There's nothing special about Christmas eve for me like there is for you. The more time you spend here the less time you have with Grace," he pointed out.

Danny eyed him again. Back in Jersey he would leap on this opportunity for all it was worth, but here his team was smaller. They needed him. They relied on him. But they also loved him like family and they were willing to give up their Christmas for him and Grace. They weren't gonna like it easy for him to argue, and he wasn't going to try.

"Okay. I'm going. But if either of you want company you’re both welcome to join us. We're gonna watch miracle on 34th street and then Santa might just visit," Danny smirked. 

"Then don't keep him waiting!" Chin urged.

Danny raised his coffee cup in acceptance and turned to walk away. Chin chuckled at the memory of last year. Danny devoted himself to tracking down a Santa suit and had three people sitting in his living room frantically sewing it smaller to fit him. They had to fit this together for Grace's sake. Now that Danny had it, it was going to make its way to Christmas eve every year until she stopped believing. 

"He really dresses as Santa every year?" He asked.

"He has to. He probably shot the real one for home invasion," Steve smirked 

Chin snickered at the idea. If anyone would shoot Santa for home invasion it was Danny. Of course he'd warn him first, but he would shoot. 

"Sounds nice though. Christmas with friends rather than an empty old house. No matter how well you decorate it's just not Christmas if you have space to breath y’know?" Chin gave a weak smile.

Everything he had done to keep his uncle out of jail had backfired on him. It had pushed his family away. And while he didn't regret it, he couldn't pretend not to be disappointed at this time of year. 

"Yeah..."

Steve had given up on the navy when he had been forced to abandon his friend to die. Before that Christmas has been the one blip of hope on the radar. While everyone with families wanted to go home to them, the bonds of family in their Team just grew.

Now it seemed that they could just help their friends be with their family, which was a gift in itself. Although Danny had invited them to visit...

Steve cleared his throat awkwardly, "Anyway, one of us should go talk to Max and see if he's prepared to do an autopsy."

...

Grace lit up when she heard her fathers car engine rev as he approached the house. He always revved twice so she knew it was him. Neither were entirely sure where the habit had come from, but it was probably something to do with avoiding Rachel. Stan raised his head when she flew to the window. He wasn't expecting Danny yet. The call that he would be late had only come in half an hour ago. Rachel was still ranting about it.

Grace raced down the steps and threw her arms around Danny. He stooped down to scoop her up and cuddle her tight before setting her on his hip.

"That was fast!" She laughed.

"Yeah well I'm just that brilliant a detective, I solved it already!" Danny grinned.

"Dan _no,"_ Grace clearly didn’t believe him.

"Okay maybe I didn’t," Danny admitted.

Stan handed him her weekend bag and mouthed an apology, gesturing to his phone. Danny was in no way surprised. It seemed that Stan was endlessly on his phone, just to prove he was a very important businessman. It wasn't worth hanging around any longer if it was just him there.

Danny held onto Grace's had as they climbed the stairs to hid apartment. They had to. The elevator was out. Again.

"So Uncle Steve said that I had to come home and spend all of Christmas with you. He's going to work instead," Danny finished.

Danny bounced her hand happily as he said it. The hurt in his eyes that his partner had driven him away was completely absent as he looked down at his daughter. She, however, looked concerned. 

"But what if Uncle Steve gets into trouble?" She asked, nervously. 

"Uncle Steve won't get into trouble," Danny promised.

Grace frowned, "You said Uncle Steve is a magnet for trouble. That he could make trouble in an empty room if he wanted to."

"I stand by that. But its okay because Uncle Chin is with him and Uncle Chin is very good at looking after people isn't he?" Danny said.

Grace beamed, "I love Uncle Chin, he got me this!"

Grace jogged across the room, dove under Danny's Christmas tree, and dug out a gift that was hidden under it. She beamed as she held it up to Danny. He set his hands on his hips.

"How do you know who’s got what under my Christmas tree huh? Have you been peaking?!" He teased.

Grace pulled the most innocent face she could manage and Danny just laughed. The tree was still a little scraggly thing, and the decorations were limited to things he'd found cheap and stringed popcorn, but it felt more homely to have something so familiar in his apartment. Hawaii was full of coconut trees, a fir like this reminded him of home. 

"What do you say to making pop corn and watching miracle on 34th street for a while?" Danny asked.

"Okay," Grace nodded.

She helped him to make the popcorn, using a chair as a stool to do so. The two of them settled in on the couch together, Danny pulling her close, so they could watch the film and pretend to be back in their city. Or close enough anyway. Danny was beginning to wonder if he'd ever see a white Christmas again. New Jersey was known for snow storms in the winter. Out here, much to his disdain, it was still t-shirt weather. 

Grace was alone in the main room for barely five minutes while Danny went to the bathroom, and there was a knock at the front door. Curiously, Grace dragged the chair over to the door to peer through the peep hole. On the other side of the door was a tall man in a bright red suit, with a big bushy white beard, and piercing blue eyes that shone with excitement at his plan. Grace giggled. She leapt off the chair and pulled it aside. Danny walked back in the room just as she opened the door, and he ran to grab her.

Grace yelped in alarm to feel her father suddenly bundle her close to his legs, defensively. Danny pulled her against him, laying an arm around her chest to protect her heart. It was a split second decision, a defence manoeuvre, just in case whoever was at the door was dangerous. 

Santa's eyes sparkled as he grinned at Danny. The recognition was instant. This man was safe. It was a relief, but they still had a problem.

"What have I told you about opening the door to people Gracie?!" Danny snipped.

Grace raised her head against his legs to look up at him, innocently, "Not to do it if I don't recognise them but I recognised Uncle Steve."

Steve swore inwardly and tried to press through it. "I'm not Uncle Steve! I'm Santa!"

"No you’re not," Grace snorted. 

"Yes I am, watch-" Steve laid his hands on his belly and bellowed, "HO HO HO!"

"You still shouldn't open the door without permission Gracie," Danny warned sternly. 

He let Grace go, satisfied that Steve wasn't particularly dangerous, even if he was a bit of a goof. Grace gave him an apologetic look.

"Sorry Danno."

"What a nice apology! We'll keep you on the nice list," Steve winked.

Danny took a step back to let Grace enjoy Steve's game. Grace squinted suspiciously at Steve, but her smile was shining through her eyes and he knew she already had him made.

"You're not the real Santa," she declared.

"Yes I am. Try me. Ask me anything!" Steve declared. 

He was confident that anything Grace could ask him he could answer. Danny had been complaining about Stan buying Grace loads of stuff from her Christmas list and now it was only the cheaper stuff left which he felt made him look cheap. Not that Steve thought Grace would even care. She wasn't the type of kid who cared about what you would buy her as long as she felt you were thinking of her when you did. Generic kid presents, like the doll Stan brought her for her birthday, paled in comparison to the seashell Kono had dived off of her surfboard to fetch up from the seabed for her, just because she thought it was pretty. 

"Okay, if you’re really the real Santa, why do you have the same SEAL regimental tattoo as my uncle Steve?" 

Steve's face fell as Danny's lit up proudly. Steve glanced down at his arm to see where his sleeve had ridden up enough to catch glimpses of his tattoo from it. They were hard to explain away. 

"Uh... I was in the same team as him?" He offered.

" _Uncle Steve_!" Grace laughed, "Santa wasn’t in the navy!"

Steve just laughed and groaned in defeat, "Alright you got me! You're good!"

"She's brilliant," Danny corrected. "What do you expect, She’s my daughter."

Steve just grinned in amusement as he pulled his woolly beard off of his chin. Danny sent Grace to find Steve one of their freshly baked cookies to get her out of the room long enough to not hear their conversation. 

"What are you doing here Steve?" Danny asked, quietly.

"You invited me, remember?" Steve said.

There was a spark of alarm in his eyes as he realised he may have misread Danny's invite. Maybe he didn't mean it. Maybe he didn’t want Steve there. If he didn't, he was in for a shock.

"The case is over already?" Danny asked.

"Yep. Max found a finger-" Steve paused as Grace came back into view, "I'll tell you later. Anyway we figured we'd come to yours to celebrate."

 _"We?"_ Danny repeated.

Steve ignored him in order to kneel down and take the cookie from Grace. He scooped her up with one arm to sit her on his knee as he admired the cookie and teased her, pretending not to believe she could bake such a fine thing. When the front door knocked again Danny was weary, but relieved to see it was just Chin.

Grace reached out towards him, despite being on Steve's hip, and reminded Danny of when she used to reach for him while on Rachel's. It never failed to astound him how much she had grown since then and how much more she had to do still.

"Uncle Chin, thank you for my present!" Grace beamed. 

"You're very welcome Grace, but you know you’re not supposed to open them until tomorrow," Chin smiled.

"I haven’t, but the wrapping is so pretty I really want to!" She said.

"One more sleep monkey, just one," Danny assured her.

Grace groaned in protest but the grown ups just laughed. It had been so long since they were children themselves and the world had been so cruel to them that could hardly remember the excitement of youth themselves. But to see it in Grace brought it all back. The innocent wonder. The heartfelt magic. It took having a child in front of them to remember how much good was still in the world.

Kamekona didn’t bother to knock as he opened Danny's door with the emergency key. Danny hummed in irritation. Fake stones didn’t work so well on the third floor.

"Sorry we're late, we were helping the Christmas eve clean up and lost track of time," Kamekona declared. 

"The Christmas eve clean up?" Danny repeated. 

Kamekona nodded, "Yeah man, we take a bunch of volunteers down to the beach and gather up the litter that washes up on the shore. It's vital to the ocean metabolism that we don't choke the water with our plastics."

"Plus then we'd be out of a business. No ocean, no shrimp, no shrimp, no business," Flippa added.

"Respect the ocean and she'll do good by you," Kamekona said, firmly.

"I hear that brother," Steve said.

He pointed to the man as he spoke and Kamekona pointed back. Both of them thumped their chests as they did, and Danny rolled his eyes. He had a healthy respect for the ocean, boarding on fear, and all that had lead to was being dragged out to humiliate himself surfing with the others.

The door opened itself again, which was how Danny realised it hadn't been shut, and a cheer went up when the others saw Kono stepping into view.

"Aloha! I didn't realise everyone was already here or I'd have picked up more beer," she laughed.

"That might have been a good idea, what time are shops shutting tonight?" Chin asked.

There was a barrage of answers, all disagreeing with the previous one, as the others tried to decide if it was worth sending someone on a beer run now, just in case. Kono side stepped the argument to hug Grace. 

"I got you this. It's nothing big, but I thought you might like to open it tonight as a special present," Kono smiled.

She held out a small package wrapped up in red and white paper to Grace. Grace beamed with delight and threw her arms around Kono's shoulders again. 

"Mahalo Auntie Kono!"

Kono laughed and hugged her back. Before Danny could interrupt, Grace had shredded the paper off of her present and beamed up at Kono all over again. 

"Coconuts!" She giggled, "I love them! Danno, look!"

Danny raised his head to look past Steve, couldn’t, and pushed past him instead. Curious as to why, Steve followed him. Danny snorted to see what Grace was holding. Kono had found her a bunch of decorations shaped like coconuts wearing elf and Santa hats that could be hung from the Christmas tree. As much as Danny liked to avoid bringing Hawaii into his house, these were rather cute, and he kind of liked them.

"Great, now we can have coconuts inside as well as everywhere outside," Danny sneered.

Kono's eyes sparkled as she shared a knowing look with Steve. Both of them had known Danny long enough to tell when he was putting on airs. 

"Say thank you monkey," Danny said.

Grace grinned at Kono again, "Mahalo!"

Kono grinned back. In her peripheral vision she could see Danny heave a sigh and roll his eyes while Steve laughed. 

"You are very welcome," she said. 

Chin helped Grace to hang them on the tree while Kono went to Flippa to find a beer. Danny muttered something about losing control of his own apartment, but he went ignored. 

Having guests on Christmas eve chatting, laughing, and stealing all their food and beer, turned into the same kind of casual party that tended to create itself when loved ones gathered somewhere. They seemed to happen more and more since Danny had found himself at a corner stone of Five-O. 

Grace loved it. She had gone from having a mother who constantly argued with her father who had a demanding job, and a step father who was far too busy to pay full attention to what she was saying, to having half a dozen adults who would go out of their way to make her feel welcome. This Ohana that they had found themselves a part of was a loving one and Danny had to admit he was fond of them. 

He rested a hand on Grace's shoulder as it got late. "Time for bed you."

"But Danno, I don’t wanna go to bed yet!" She whined. 

"If you don’t go to bed how's Santa going to be able to come?" Chin asked. 

"That's right," Steve agreed, "he sees you when you’re sleeping y’know, and he knows when you’re awake."

"Santa should be arrested for invasion of privacy," Kamekona declared. 

"You cant arrest Santa!" Kono argued.

"Why not? He breaks into houses all the time, man's a crook! I get caught in someone's house, I get arrested," Kamekona complained. 

"That's backwards!" Flippa agreed.

"You’re not Santa," Kono countered.

"Could be," Danny muttered. 

"Watch it haole, this is all muscle!" Kamekona lied.

He smacked against his arm to prove his point but all that he got in response was snickering.

"Haven't you ever seen a movie? Any time anyone arrests Santa he always breaks out," Chin said. 

"Ah, so he's on the run! Now that I can understand!" Kamekona declared.

Danny rolled his eyes and placed both his hands on Grace's shoulders. "Time for small ears to go to bed before you get corrupted by association!"

Grace raised her head, pressed against Danny's stomach to look up at him with big puppy dog eyes. Steve smiled to himself. She always looked like a little penguin when she was huddled that close to Danny.

"But I'm not even tired!" She whined.

Danny grumbled a little. Logically he knew it was time for bed, but it was a special night and her whole ohana were here to help celebrate. Even if they were busy spreading rumours about Santa Claus. 

Kamekona leaned over to take her hand in his, "How about we tell you a traditional Hawaiian Christmas story instead huh?"

Steve raised an eyebrow at Kamekona. "Traditional Hawaiian _Christmas_ story?"

Kamekona screwed up his face. They were all keenly aware about Kamekona's favourite habit of creating Hawaiian traditions but the suggestion that they had old Christmas stories was a step too far. 

"How about we do The Night Before Christmas?" Chin asked.

Grace gasped in delight. "Yeah, I love that one!"

The adults shuffled around to form a semi circle around the couch while Flippa and Kamekona shuffled up to make room for Grace. 

"You come sit right here then, and we'll tell you the story. That's it. You comfy? Good," Steve beamed. 

Steve liked to fuss over Grace. He liked the way she giggled at him and how it made her eyes shine like she didn't know anything bad existed. Steve looked up to Kono so she could get them started.

"Kono?"

"Uh, right. Remind me how it starts cuz?"

"Uh..."

Steve looked between Kono and Chin who shared the same look of alarm as they suddenly realised they didn't fully remember the story start. Danny's smile faded. This did not bode well for the rest of the story.

Flippa kissed his teeth and shook his head, "it's real easy! It goes: Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."

Grace beamed and settled in, leaning against Steve. Steve pulled his Santa hat off of his head and dropped it onto hers. It fell over her eyes and she pushed it up, giggling and beamed at him. Danny smiled to himself to see how happy Grace looked to be the centre of attention. As bitter at the fact he had to follow his ex wife's new husband all the way to Hawaii as he was, he hadn't seen Grace smile like this in New Jersey. Here she had a whole new family who embraced her, welcomed her, loved her, and here they were trying to act out a Christmas story to help her sleep. Even Mattie hadn't gone this far. 

"Oh Dasher, on dancer!" Chin cried.

"On Prancer and vixen!" Kono continued. 

"On comet, on cupid!" Steve added.

All eyes turned pointedly to Danny, who was next in line and had yet to say a word. He put on a show of rolling his eyes but he couldn't fully hold back his smirk. 

"Oh fine, on Donner and Blitzen!" He said.

"From the top of the porch to the top of the hall!" Flippa said.

Everyone in the room, Grace included, joined together to cry, "Now dash away dash away dash away all!" before falling back into a puddle of laughter. Grace had somehow climbed into Steve's lap within the story and when she threw her head back to laugh, it hit his chest and he beamed. 

"And I heard him exclaim as he flew out of sight," Kamekona's loud voice called for silence, which it got. Then he lowered his tone again and smiled down at Grace. In a hushed tone, he said, "merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night."

Instinctively, Grace let out a yawn. There was a low snickering from the others to see it. A warm wave of pride swept through the room. Their plan had been a success and now Grace was struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Now it really is time for bed monkey," Danny said, gently.

Grace rubbed her eyes and nodded.

"Say thank you for the story," Danny said.

"Mahalo," she mumbled.

Again there was more snickering. Danny may have resisted Hawaii at all costs but Grace dove head first in it. As much as he wished to be back home, Grace had made herself a home here, and he wasn't going to take that away from her. 

Danny reached down to take Grace from Steve, but Steve's arm wound itself a little tighter around her. "I can take her if you-"

Danny shook his head, "No, I got this."

Steve held his gaze for a moment. There was a flicker of disappointment in them. He had known them for just over a year now and he was still finding his feet in the Uncle department. Steve loved Grace and he wanted to be involved but Danny was her father. He knew best. Begrudgingly, Steve let her go. She slipped off of his lap and took Danny's hand.

"Night Gracie," Steve muttered. 

The others echoed him, wishing her sweet dreams and a merry Christmas. Grace waved a sleepy goodbye to them as Danny lead her to the bed down the hall. He was going to be back on the couch again tonight, but at least he would have Grace all day tomorrow too.

Danny tucked Grace in affectionately, and leaned down to kiss her forehead. He took the hat off of her head as she did. She grumbled slightly, but she was practically asleep by the time her head hit the pillow.

Danny set the hat on the head of the plush monkey slumped on his windowsill. Grace didn't pay much attention to it these days, but he kept it again. Partly because it reminded him of the good times they had back home, but also because he couldn't shake this feeling that it would come in important one day.

By the time he came back into the main room it was just Steve left there. He was running a finger alone a bowl to get one last taste of the sauce inside. When he sucked his finger he looked up at Danny like he hadn’t noticed him come back in. Danny pretended not to be staring. 

"Where is everyone?" He asked.

"They're heading back to their families for the night. Chin's driving Kono home first. I’m just cleaning up," Steve explain. 

"They didn't say goodbye," Danny complained. 

"You ran out of beer, that was goodbye enough," Steve smirked.

Danny rolled his eyes, "Great, guess tomorrow I'm stuck on eggnog."

Steve just snorted again. He glanced towards the stocking hanging on the wall knowingly. Kono had snuck a beer in there just for Danny to make sure he had one left for tomorrow. It was another little thing that made Steve love his team more than he ever thought he would. They cared about each other not because they had to like a SEAL Team, but because they wanted to. Because they were friends. More than friends. They were ohana.

These thoughts were going through Steve's mind as he collected up the dishes to take into the kitchen. 

"You don't have to-" Danny began. 

"I threw you an impromptu party Danny, I'm gonna help you tidy," Steve countered. 

Danny scoffed, _"Help_ me tidy? It was your party-" 

Steve rolled his eyes. He had changed his tune quick. "Its your house. You were the host-"

"But it's your mess you Neanderthal!" Danny snapped.

"Shh! Grace is sleeping!" Steve hissed. 

Danny looked slightly sheepish which made Steve smirk. The last thing either of them wanted was for her to wake up and find her father sneaking presents into her stocking instead of Santa. Danny set to that task while Steve piled the dishes into the sink and watched him over the counter.

"She looked happy?" He said.

Danny nodded, "Yeah, she loves Christmas."

"Who doesn't? Good food, free stuff-"

"It's not free Steve some of it is ridiculously expensive."

"It's free where Santa's concerned."

"That's not- that's not the point."

Danny sighed. Santa had plenty of money to get kids anything they wanted, but Danny did not. Even agreeing to split Grace's Christmas list with Rachel didn’t make it much easier. And honestly when it got to "A dog just like Checkers" she had broken Danny's heart. He missed that dog deeply and hadn't realised that she did too. Thinking about that dog, Danny let out a heavy sigh. 

Steve glanced at him, concerned. "You okay? If you’re tired I can finish up and let myself out-"

"No, no, it's not that it's just..." Danny ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think of a way to explain the bittersweet feeling in his chest. "I think this is probably the first Christmas I've enjoyed since my divorce."

Whatever reaction Danny had been expecting, the smug smirk of satisfaction wasn't it. "Ah, see, the island is growing on you!"

"No I still hate this rock and everything about it. It's ridiculous that its warm out as well, I can go out in shorts here-" Danny began, bitterly. 

"Do you own shorts?" Steve interrupted.

He had known Danny a long time now and spent a lot of time with him and he hadn't seen Danny in shorts. Swimming trucks maybe but not shorts. 

"Uh I do, but that doesn’t, that doesn’t matter because you will never see me wear them at work," Danny said firmly.

Steve cleared his throat slightly, "Maybe you should, it gets real hot-"

"No that's not professional okay?" Danny huffed. 

"Ah so the tie and the long pants, that’s the professional way to bake yourself to death huh?" Steve snorted.

Danny glared at him. "Do you hear yourself? I can't even say I enjoy something without you turning it into an argument-"

"Who's arguing, were not arguing, we're exchanging cultural ideas!" Steve argued.

Danny just huffed again and dropped the last little box into Grace's stocking so that she would have plenty to open once she woke up. Steve finished cleaning up the dishes as Danny collected the empty beer bottles for the recycling. They didn't speak much. Their silence was comfortable. It was enough just to know they weren't alone on Christmas. 

"I should head out soon," Steve decided.

"What time is it?" Danny asked.

"Uh- hey! Its just gone midnight! Mele Kalikimaka Danno!" Steve laughed.

"No. No Hawaii in my house, we already have a coconut Christmas tree, you take _that_ outside with the sand thank you very much!" Danny snipped.

"Yeah yeah, I'm going," Steve smirked. He picked up his jacket from the couch and paused to smile at him again. "Merry Christmas Danny."

Danny’s mouth smiled back without his permission. "Merry Christmas yourself."

Danny waited until Steve was walking across the carpark to wave at him again. He wanted to make sure that Steve at least got to his car safely. His partner had a wild sense of justice and plenty of enemies so Danny liked to ensure he made it safely. You would be surprised how often that was the only thing between Steve and getting jumped. Steve waved up at him as he got in the car.

"Drive safe," Danny called.

Once Steve had driven off again Danny slunk inside to collapse on the couch. He was utterly exhausted, but the glow in his chest was happier than it had been in a long, long time. Despite the heat and the sand and the sea, Danny was beginning to like Hawaii.

He dozed off with images of Flippa and Kamekona pretending to eat sugar plums danced in his head.


	4. Charlie's First Play

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for this chapter being so long, I got a bit carried away, but it was so much fun that I regret nothing.

As much as he liked to pretend otherwise, Steve couldn't always be there to stop Danny having to work when he wanted to be elsewhere. Sometimes it was unavoidable. Sometimes cases demanded attention or new leads sprung out of nowhere or a state of emergency was declared. Sometimes Danny _had_ to go away and sometimes it meant he missed things.

Things like Charlie's Christmas play.

It sucked more than ever to miss something so important because Danny had already missed so much without knowing. He hated it. But by the time he had forced a dealer to roll on his boss and lead them to their hostage, taking down a smuggling ring in the process, Charlie's play was already halfway through and on the opposite side of the city. There was nothing he could do. But he smiled and nodded along as Charlie skipped down the street telling him all about it when they were next together and Danny told him how proud he was and how he couldn't wait to watch the video, even though it was killing him inside.

Danny's thoughts were so caught up with what he had missed he didn’t even notice how often his colleagues seemed to be disappearing. Steve more than most. Danny walked into Lou's office without knocking and failed to notice him snatch a piece of paper off of his desk and hide it away.

"Hey, have you seen Steve? He said he was going for coffee and -"

"Nope. No, I haven't seen him, thanks for asking, bye," Lou forced a smile though his eyes were sharply pointed.

Danny pulled a turtle face. "You uh, you trying to get rid of me or something?"

Danny gave a breezy smile with it, just joking around, but Lou's split second delay before scoffing hit him funny. Danny push it aside as himself being sensitive. Rachel was bringing the video Stan had filmed over and it was a little grating that Stan had been there to father his son again, despite having filed for divorce.

"Chances are McGarrett got distracted. You know what he's like at Christmas, he probably walked into the mall and witnessed Santa's elves robbing a charity bucket and went all McGarrett over it or something," Lou sneered.

It was a possibility. Christmas with Steve tended to include some form of danger. And Steve would do anything to avoid his paperwork.

"Look, if you want coffee," Lou began, to which Danny raised his eyebrows. Lou very rarely made coffee, especially for other people. But when he reached for his mug and held it up to Danny, he finished, "I wouldn't mind a cup."

Danny snorted. By now he should have known better than to expect Lou to put himself out. The man was a brilliant cop and a fantastically loyal friend, he was brave and smart and he always had your back at all times. And he would pass over the less pressing tasks to literally anybody else at every opportunity. So yes, technically, on paper, Danny was his boss, but in reality Danny was the one who made them both coffee.

That was, in fact, what he was doing when he saw Tani and Steve come in from the staircase, laughing like they had been together for a while. It was nice to see how comfortable they were together. Steve had taken a shine to Tani from the word go, but when Junior turned up on his doorstep he had taken priority.

Not that Danny would ever admit it, even to himself, but his subconscious mind couldn't help but draw parallels. Tani had been hand picked by them and trained up four to one. Like Grace. She had been raised as part of their Ohana from the moment she arrived. Junior had turned up out of the blue and needed help, but had no training and a firmly military mind. Like Charlie. He had been dropped into their lap and needed a little extra guidance to fit in. It was guidance they were willing to give, happy to, but it took their focus from Tani. Of course she could stand on her own two feet and she had proved it multiple times, she had been there long enough to even take Junior under her wing. Just like how Grace constantly looked out for her little brother.

Maybe it was just the way that he and Steve affectionately referred to them as their kids but he could see his own family rewritten at work. To see Tani get attention reminded him that Grace still needed his.

"Ah! Coffee! Now that I could use," Tani grinned.

She reached to take the pot from Danny but he yanked it away.

"Sorry this pots for me and Grover. _Someone_ was supposed to have made us a pot two hours ago, but disappeared," Danny glared pointedly at Steve.

Tani flashed a grin, "Oh yeah, I wonder who that was."

"Actually I was going to go across the road and get some good coffee. This stuff sucks," Steve argued.

Danny was going to point out that if he was going across the road he'd been gone for a long time and come back empty handed. He was toying with the idea of suggesting too many hits to the head had had an impact and now he was getting lost by crossing the road. But Tani was faster than him.

"I thought you said anything was better than what you drank in the army," she challenged.

 _"Navy,"_ Steve corrected sternly.

Tani and Danny didn’t even have to look at each other to fist bump over winding Steve up. Steve made a show of rolling his eyes, but he snickered too.

"And it depended on where we were based. Sometimes we were in coffee fields. Sometimes we just had dirt, hot water and imagination," he said.

Tani wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I think I'd take this coffee over dirt."

"What happened, you get to the bottom of the stairs, bump into Tani and go to the shooting range instead?" Danny challenged.

Steve opened his mouth and folded his arms as he thought for a moment before just smiling, "Something like that."

"I'm curious, why's that your first guess?" Tani asked.

Danny shrugged, "No reason. I mean, you're looking a little flushed, like you've been focusing hard on something or working out a little, his got that sparkle in his eyes that he gets as soon as anything dangerous is mentioned so you've been doing something to get the adrenaline going right? And since he's old enough to be your grandfather-"

"You’re older than me!" Steve argued defensively.

"I'm guessing that's the shooting range. And I'm guessing, because I've heard all the reasons under the sun why the shooting range is inaccurate to daily life and doesn't adequately reflect your skills, blah, blah, blah, and because of the cocky way you walked in, you won," Danny gestured to Tani.

Tani gave a cocky grin and turned pointed to Steve. Steve pulled a face.

"Well that's not... _entirely_ accurate," he said.

"Don't lie to the man, he’s a great Detective. He'll just figure out the whole story in the end," Tani grinned.

"Thank you," Danny smirked.

"Can I have the coffee now?" Tani asked, holding up a mug like a pauper in a Dickens novel.

"Yes, yes you may," Danny said.

He poured the hot brown gritty solution into her mug as a reward and she raised it to him.

"Mahalo."

With that, she swaggered off to her office. Steve rolled his eyes at the folded a4 paper sticking out of her back pocket. Subtly wasn’t working today. He budged Danny to distract him so he wouldn’t notice it.

"Can I have some too please?" He asked.

Danny set the empty pot back in its place and picked up the cup he had poured for Lou. He gave Steve another pointed look as Steve's shoulders sagged.

"Coffee is for winners Steve."

Steve watched him take the coffee to Lou, and set it on his desk. Then he watched Lou laugh, lift his coffee, and raise it to Steve through the glass. Steve snorted to himself.

Once upon a time he had been in charge of fifteen men who would never dare to challenge or disrespect him in any way because he was in charge and had earned it. Eight years later he couldn't even stop his partner teasing him and spreading that attitude to their team. They were never going to let him have the same complete control that his SEALs did and they weren't going to let anyone else have it either. Because they were more than a team. They were a family.

It was a slam back into reality and Steve loved it.

While Danny was finishing off his paperwork in his office Steve gathered their kids in his office for a separate meeting. He glanced over at his partner through the windows to make sure he hadn't noticed. Steve didn’t want him to come in and find out too much.

"Junes can you head back to our place and start setting up?" Steve asked.

"Yes sir," Junior nodded obediently.

"Setting up what, have you even finished the stage yet?" Tani asked.

"Actually some friends of mine are setting it up," Steve said.

Tani gave a fake gasp and pressed a hand to her chest, affronted, "You have friends outside of us?!"

Steve laughed as he shook his head. Danny glanced up long enough to see all three of them smiling. Usually it would irritate him that his friends were busy laughing and joking while he was dealing with paperwork but it didn’t today. He was too busy being grumpy about other things, and he didn't really want their happiness to distract him from that.

"There are SEALs all over this island who are more than willing to help for a good cause," Steve said.

"Kamekona?" Tani grinned.

"Him too," Junior agreed.

"Kamekona's sorting outfits. It's a last minute necessity so he's got the aloha girls helping to stitch them into size," Steve explained.

"Isn't Grace an aloha girl?" Tani asked.

"She was when she was young. She told Rachel she's volunteering with them today so she wouldn't ask questions when she was late home," Steve nodded.

"Speaking of being late, I should get going," Junior said.

He rose from his seat and glanced towards Danny. Danny shifted in his seat and pretended to be on the phone. It was a purely instinctive move. He didn't want to be caught staring. Junior raised a hand to say goodbye through the window. Danny waved back. Another instinctive move. As much as he tried to stay grumpy it was harder these days when everyone around him kept trying to cheer him up.

"Do you think he's noticed anything yet?" Tani asked.

Steve's eyes trailed towards Danny through the glass. "I dunno, but if he starts putting the pieces together he'll figure it all out fast. That's why we need this to be the last meeting today. I'm gonna leave in two hours make sure anyone who has questions asks me before then okay?"

"Yes sir!" Tani gave a playful salute as she stood up.

Steve chuckled to himself as he twirled his pen in his hand. Tani had a bounce in her step as she went. She was excited. Hell he was excited too. Danny had been extra curmudgeonly since missing Charlie's play, they would try anything to help him remember what was still good around him.

Danny twisted in his desk chair thoughtfully as he watched Steve hunch over some paper on his desk. Something was going on. Now that he had taken a step out from under his sulky cloud, he could see it. He was connecting dots that he previously hadn't noticed. Steve constantly disappearing, the team hiding bits of paperwork from him, the secret meetings he wasn't invited to - Danny had never once wanted to attend a meeting until he wasn't invited.

It didn’t take long for curiosity to get the better of him and Danny created a reason to swing through Steve's office door. Steve sat up eagerly when Danny appeared in his doorway, and quietly turned over a piece of paper on his desk so Danny couldn't read it. This time he noticed. He said nothing, but he noticed.

"Hey, uh, I figured since you forgot to get coffee earlier we could get some now. Together. Beats paperwork right?"

"Oh, man I would love to but it's just," Steve pulled a face and leaned back in his chair as he gestured to the papers, "I've got a lot to finish up."

"What happened to taking the paperwork home to help you sleep at night?" Danny challenged.

Steve's jaw clenched for a moment. He had been having trouble sleeping again - nightmares were hard to shake after everything he'd been through - and he had taken to doing paperwork to avoid it. Pretending to be productive got work done while numbing his mind enough to risk sleep. He had forgotten how well Danny knew him.

"Yeah, well, I um... I have a meeting soon-" Steve began.

Danny leaned back in his chair as his stomach twisted. _He_ didn't have a meeting. Whoever Steve was meeting, Danny was being left out. Again.

"You do?" He asked, suspiciously.

"Yes? Yes I do," Steve stated.

"Uh huh? Well that’s - that's interesting actually because you've been having a lot of meetings recently. A lot more than me anyway," Danny said, pointedly.

"That is interesting. Maybe it's something to do with me being in charge of this task force and therefore responsible for all the choices made by it," Steve said, plainly.

"Oh so you do realise you're responsible for this mess, good," Danny nodded.

Steve had to hold back a smirk. From day one Steve had only recruited outcasts and troublemakers and anyone who didn’t think like a cop. Five-On was a home for wayward officials with a strong sense of justice and looser morals. That way he could get away with minor, petty, infringements of people's rights (like tying them to a jet ski and dragging them around the waves which wasn't _technically_ waterboarding but it got the same affects) without stubborn to-the-letter cops scolding him for it.

Danny was his only exception, and even he had been worn down by time and circumstances. Really the only person who could be considered the teams responsible, sensible, rule abiding cop was Chin and considering how often IA were breathing down is neck that was a laughable realisation.

Now they had Junior and Tani to train up too they had become responsible for their actions. Adam's too, which was sometimes harder to explain. The governor couldn't go two weeks without hauling Steve into his office for answers.

"What's your point Danny?" Steve asked drily.

"Point? Why do I have to have a point? Isn't it enough that I'm just checking in with the Commander of our task force to help me understand why he has so many meetings? Even meetings with the teams juniors that uh, that I - me, your partner - I am not privy to," Danny asked impatiently.

Steve eyed him across the table. Danny hated the way his eyes shone with understanding. Steve could read him like a book even when he didn’t want him to and he hated it.

"You feeling a little left out bud?" Steve teased.

"Well I am being left out, I'd like to know why," Danny huffed.

"It's not personal Danny, we just figured since you're still upset about missing Charlie's play, we'd give you space to sulk," Steve shrugged.

"Space to - I'm not sulking," Danny lied.

"Pretty sure moping around like a miserable rain cloud counts as sulking. But hey, if you feel so left out you could always come to mine tonight and we can hang out," Steve shrugged.

Both of them liked to spend as much time as possible together. Neither cared to admit it much in case the other didn’t feel the same way. Confessing unrequited love wasn’t exactly something either of them were comfortable trying. It was easier to just enjoy their limited intimacy. But tonight Danny shook his head.

"It's Christmas eve, I've got the kids tonight," he said.

Danny was a package deal. Two kids were a handful. He wouldn't ever impose. Steve clenched his jaw to hold in a grin as he shrugged.

"Bring em, I love Christmas eve with the kids. Those chocolate chip cookies-" he began.

 _"Santa's_ chocolate chip cookies," Danny corrected.

"They're delicious. You bake them and you can bring all the kids you want to my house," Steve grinned.

"Thanks. Thank you that’s very uh... very nice of you, I appreciate it, thanks. I'm gonna stick with two though if you don't mind," Danny joked.

"Come anyway. I have a suprise for you," Steve stated.

Danny frowned darkly. A suprise from Steve usually meant something dangerous. "What kind of surprise?"

"Not the kind that gets you killed. I know you don't like them. Look at us, working on our communication like the therapist said, I'm proud of us, aren’t you proud of us?" Steve grinned.

"So proud," Danny said, sarcastically.

Danny rolled his eyes but it made his insides warm whenever Steve reminded him that the kids were not only welcome in his house but encouraged. In Steve's eyes Danny was a package deal alright, and Steve himself was very much part of the package.

That feeling followed him right back across the room back to his office, where he sat down and realised that he still hadn’t been invited to the next meeting. His heart sank. It wasn't like he could go back and demand to be allowed to do - if he did he'd then _h_ _ave_ to go and honestly he didn't want to but an invite would be nice. Their therapist would be proud of Steve for communicating but Danny, Danny could try harder.

Tani had developed a habit of knocking as she opened the door so she wouldn't have to wait but she still, technically, knocked. Danny sat up as she stepped into the room.

"You okay boss?" She asked cheerfully.

"Y’know Tani, sometimes I think SEALs only pass buds because they have thick skulls. The bullets just bounce right off," Danny sighed.

"I think Junior would disagree," She smirked.

"What does he know, half the time he doesn't even hear what we're saying!" Danny huffed.

"Well that's not his fault, between the bombs in the Navy, forgetting ear protection at the gun range, and how hard he hit his head well he fell down that hole his hearings been playing up!" Tani argued defensively.

"I've noticed. It's something worth checking out if you can get him to go to a doctor. Mind you I only got Steve to go to a doctor when Eddie's vet told him he had to," Danny said.

Tani chuckled. "It's fine, I learned sign language for diving -"

"Where'd you learn that, mermaid school?" Danny teased.

"Little bit yeah! Anyway, I came here for a reason. Here."

Tani set a Tupperware box on Danny's desk and grinned at him. Danny sat up to examine it. Tani kept grinning as he leaned back in his seat and raised an eyebrow.

"What’s uh, what's this?"

"Cookies. Home made. I heard you're a bit of an expert," she grinned.

Danny's eyes widened and he gestured to them, "You made these?"

"Well I had help but yeah," She nodded.

Danny took one curiously. He examined it, twisting it in his hand, to look at each side. It was chocolate chip with a crisp outside and a gooey centre. Danny took a bite and hummed in surprised.

"These are good," he said.

"Thanks," she pushed them across the table to him, "Take em."

"The whole box? Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yeah boss, the whole box. Consider it an early Christmas present," she grinned.

"Well thanks Tani, this is excellent, thanks. I didn't get you anything," Danny chuckled.

"Well maybe we can talk shift rotations in the new year to make up for it," Tani smiled.

"Oh I should have known. Alright, in the new year we'll talk," Danny laughed.

"That's all I need," Tani beamed.

...

“He's here, everybody into position!"

Danny couldn't hear the cry that went up inside Steve's house as he rolled down the drive. Kamekona wasn't back from wherever he had taken the kids on an "adventure" yet, so Danny had a little extra time to spend with Steve alone. He even brought Tani's cookies along to share. After all, there was only one person in the office who gushed about him being an expert baker.

Danny glanced across the driveway and noticed a couple more cars than he had expected. Steve had never been one to stop his neighbours parking in his drive, or using his private beach, especially if nowhere else was available, but this was excessive.

Not once in the entire time that he had known Steve had he knocked before entering his house. This time though, when he pushed the door open, he froze. He had not expected to find Steve's front room transformed into a reception area, but he _definitely_ hadn’t excepted to find his son in a red waist coat six sizes too big for him, standing on a stall behind the desk to greet him.

"Aloha! Welcome Danno!" He beamed.

Charlie's first tooth had fallen out recently and when he beamed at his father the gummy grin happily showed off the gap.

"Uh, hi Charlie. Aren't you meant to be with Uncle Kamekona?" Danny asked cautiously.

Charlie nodded, "he's through there."

Charlie pointed towards Steve's living room. A black curtain had been hung up across the doorway to separate the rooms. Danny eyed it cautiously and then looked back at his son.

"Thanks-"

Danny moved towards the door but Charlie hurried forward to stop him. He stumbled on the hem of his jacket as he did.

"Ticket please!"

"Ticket?" Danny repeated.

This felt like one of Charlie's games which Danny always tended to go along with, but this was a bit more intense than usual. That wasn't Charlie's jacket and he'd never be able to put that curtain up alone.

"You need your ticket to go through there," Charlie said firmly.

"I don’t have a ticket," Danny said slowly.

Charlie held out a hand, "Tickets cost 1 cookie."

"Oh really?" Danny smirked.

He was beginning to put things together now as he prized the lid off of the Tupperware. He still had no idea what was actually going on, but he was beginning to suspect that his team really had been up to something. Danny handed the cookie to Charlie and Charlie handed him back a strip of paper with a candy cane drawn on it. He recognised the art style instantly. Charlie made that himself.

"Go through," he ordered, pulling back the curtain.

Danny hesitated, but he did as he was told. A red carpet had been laid through Steve’s front room, rolling out towards the garden, and the furniture had a been pushed aside to clear the path. Adam and Junior were waiting there, in red waistcoats that matched Charlie's. Adam's was also too big for him but had been pinned back to look like it fit. Junior's was left baggy. Adam struggled to hold back his grin as Danny glanced around, suspiciously.

"Welcome sir, may I take your jacket?" Junior asked politely.

Danny wasn't wearing a jacket. "Uh, no? Are you two behind this?"

"It'll all be clear soon sir, I'm sure," Junior said.

"What uh, what’s going on?" Danny asked.

Adam just grinned a little wider, "have you got your ticket sir?"

"Sir?" Danny repeated.

He snorted to himself. It wasn't like Adam to call anyone sir unless he was trying to prevent a fight. Clearly he had been spending too much time with Junior and his stubborn military manners.

"alright, here."

Adam made a show of examining the ticket even though all it had on it was the candy canes. He nodded solemnly and handed it back.

"Let me take show you to your seat, this way," Adam held out a hand to guide him.

Danny snorted again and nodded. He followed Adam through the room, and burst into laughter when he saw Kamekona standing at the back door with a tray around his neck. It was full of paper bags full of popcorn and cans of pop from his truck. There was also a price list on the front of the tray.

"Aloha, welcome to the McGarrett home theatre, can I interest you in some popcorn?" Kamekona asked.

"Uh, how much?" Danny asked.

"Three-" Kamekona began.

"Kamekona," Adam warned.

Kamekona wrinkled his nose. "A cookie."

Danny laughed louder. Kamekona would do anything for money. Danny couldn’t imagine what they had done to convince him to work for cookies today. Especially when the price list had dollar signs.

"Actually the cookie thing is only for one person. Everyone else had to pay cash," Adam explained.

"Everyone else?" Danny repeated.

Adam winked as he opened the back door. Steve's backyard had been transformed. There were rows of wooden chairs on either side of an aisle, and along the front, hiding the ocean, there was a make shift stage sat on the grass.

"What’s going on?" Danny asked again.

"Your seat's this way," Adam smiled.

As they went Danny noted all the people they passed. It was mostly Steve and Junior's friends from their navy support group, but Tani's brother was on the back row, and Lou's wife and kids waved when they saw him pass. Even Junior's dad had made an appearance, but he was hanging close to the exit just in case. Nahele was somewhere in the middle beside Noelani, and Jerry was sitting close to the stage beside some electrical gear. Danny had no idea what was going on, but a lot of people had turned out for it.

"Your seat sir," Adam said finally.

Danny blinked in astonishment to see an empty seat besides Rachel of all people. She looked just as baffled as he did.

"Uh, thanks," he muttered.

Adam nodded as Danny took his seat and walked away. Danny eyed Rachel cautiously. They had settled into a mostly amicable relationship these days. Neither bothered to try and antagonize the other anymore so they weren't as defensive around each other either. It had taken Rachel hiding Charlie's identity for three years for them to reach breaking point. But it had taken caring for Charlie in hospital for hours at a time for them to actually talk through their problems. Mind you that had been fairly sharp too.

It wasn't comfortable but they pushed through. They didn’t have much choice. There's nothing else to do in hospitals. Now they were comfortable in their loose friendship but it was enough.

Rachel tilted her paper bag at Danny.

"Popcorn?" She offered.

Danny tilted his bag back at her, and she laughed slightly. Danny noted that Stan hadn't made an appearance, and since it was another SEAL in the seat beside her, he wasn't going to either.

"Do you know something about this?" Danny asked.

"Not a thing, I thought you planned it," Rachel said.

"Nothing to do with me..." Danny muttered.

Flippa was wandering their way down the aisle, with a tray full of hot drinks and cans of drink for sale.

"Hot chocolate?" Danny asked Rachel.

"Please," she nodded.

She reached for her purse but Danny stopped her. "I've got this. Flips! Two hot chocolates this way!"

"That'll cost you two cookies bruh," Flippa called back.

Once Danny had handed them over he only had one left. Flippa leaned down to warn him that once those cookies were gone he was paying cash, just like everyone else.

"Why aren't you paying cash?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know. I thought it was something to do with the kids," Danny shrugged.

There was every chance that it was. Grace loved her mother as much as anyone would, but she had grown distinct from her since Charlie was born. Rachel had put it down to jealousy, but since admitting Charlie was Danny's too, Grace had quietly taken Danny's side against her. It was small, petty things like this that cemented that idea in Rachel's mind.

"Stan not coming?" Danny asked.

"He uh, he couldn't get away from work," Rachel said.

Before Danny could press for more answers there was a fanfare from Jerry's electrical desk. There was a quiet murmuring as the crowd prepared for the show to begin. Steve came jogging onto stage wearing a tight fitting white shirt and loose shorts that he definitely hadn't been wearing earlier. He was met by a mix of cheers and teasing wolf whistles.

"Alright, alright, calm down!" Steve laughed.

Jerry let loose a wolf whistle and Steve shot him a surprised look. Jerry winked. Steve grinned. His friends were full of surprises. Danny grumbled to himself and slunk down in his seat slightly. If he wolf whistled like that, Steve wouldn't grin at _him._

"Okay, alright, settle down, come on," Steve laughed.

The crowd were already revved up though and they weren’t about to be silenced. Fortunately for Steve, most of his friends were military and they could be automatically silenced by one phrase they had been pavloved into them.

"A TEN HUT!"

All military adult snapped upright to attention, silent and ready for action. Surprised by this, those not in the military fell silent by osmosis.

"Thank you," Steve grinned. "Most of you know why you're here. I think it's two of you who don't. For those two, an explanation from Grace."

Another cheer went up when Grace stepped up onto stage in an outfit very similar to Steve's. Steve handed her the microphone.

"Thanks uncle Steve. Aloha everyone!" Grace waved. The crowd cheered back. "Aloha Mom, Danno."

"Aloha Grace," Rachel waved.

"Hey monkey!" Danny waved.

"Danno, we know that you're disappointed that you missed Charlie's Christmas play. You tried hard which is enough. Uncle Steve rallied everyone together so we can perform it now, here, for you!" Grace beamed.

Danny's eyes widened as his jaw dropped slightly. His daughter and his best friend were standing on a stage in front of him, beaming with pride at what they had done. Steve had dragged the entire team into this too. He had dragged in a lot of navy buddies. They had built a stage in his garden. They had set up a theatre in his house, to perform a kids play. His kids play. Which he had missed.

It was a little too insane for him to wrap his head around.

"Are you for real?" Danny asked.

Grace giggled into the microphone. Steve too it from her for a moment.

"I told you I wasn't going to let you miss anything important, and this is important," he reminded him.

"You're crazy!" Danny laughed.

"You wanna see the play or not?" Steve grinned.

"Yes he does! I didn't get dressed up like this for nothing!" Lou shouted from behind the stage.

Another clamour or woops and jeers went up from the crowd. Danny grinned. He leaned back in his seat and raised a hand.

"Please, go ahead," he ordered.

Steve and Grace beamed at each other and hurried off stage together, excited to begin. They left the stage empty as the audience applauded. The applause slowed and became quieter but the stage remained empty. Steve glanced around in confusion, searching for their missing star. Charlie was crouching under the scaffolds beneath the stage, looking out at the crowd. He had left the waist coat to one side and was wearing a white shirt and a neat blazer instead. Both of which had grass stains from where he'd wriggled into position. Steve had to squat to see him.

"Little C? Where are - what are you doing down here, you're meant to be on stage."

Charlie shook his head, his eyes wide with fear, "Cant."

"Cant? Why not? what's wrong?"

"Too scary."

"Too - oh. Oh um... well how about I come with you huh? Will it be less scary then?"

Charlie glanced at Steve, his face still a picture of nerves. This seemed scarier than the school hall, but this time he had his uncle with him.

Steve took Charlie's hand and the applause started again as they climbed the steps to the stage. Steve had expected to stop on the steps and let Charlie go on alone, but Charlie wouldn't let go of his hand. Rachel hid her smile behind her hand as Steve shuffled on to awkwardly stand beside Charlie.

"Look, he's got crumbs over his mouth," Danny whispered to Rachel.

"Which one?" Rachel teased back.

Danny chuckled as his eyes met Steve's. His smile was like sunshine, which eased Steve's sudden nerves too. Steve knelt down to hold up the microphone for Charlie, who squeezed his hand harder.

"Welcome one and all," Steve whispered encouragingly.

"W-welcome one and all. Our s-story begins on a quite night in a little town called, uh..." Charlie gulped.

"Reindeer-" Steve began.

"Reindeerland!" Charlie cried as it came back to him, making the audience snicker slightly. "A little town called Reindeerland! Where, um, where lived a special reindeer with a very shiny nose..."

Jerry pressed a button the moment he saw Eric in the wings. Nothing happened. He went to emergency plan b and grabbed two halves of a coconut from under his chair. Eric stomped onto the stage behind Charlie and Steve, to the sounds of the coconuts as if they were his steps. A ripple of laughter ran through the crowd as Flippa nudged Kamekona proudly. Eric's outfit was ridiculous.

He had brown tracksuit bottoms with cream circles hot glued onto them to add details, a small tail the shape and size of his fist held onto the small of his back with a black belt, and a brown hoodie with reindeer hooves printed on it as if holding the pocket up like a present. He also had blow up antlers pulled tightly over his head, and his nose was covered in lipstick to make it scarlet.

Eric absolutely adored the attention though. He had already taken a selfie with both of his cousins in costume.

"I wish, I wish, I wis-" Eric began.

His line was cut off by the sudden interruption of Jerry's sound board kicking into life. As far as anyone could hear, a reindeer had just gone clip-clopping over his line. Another ripple of laughter ran across the room.

"Oh God I forgot how ridiculous these things were," Danny muttered to Rachel.

Rachel glanced over at him. Danny rubbed his eye to hide his grin, but he couldn't. This whole thing was cheesy and terrible and he was so, so happy to be part of it. His smile was so wide he was practically glowing.

Eric cleared his throat and Steve hissed something at him that made him pull a face and Danny snorted. It wasn't even toddlers on stage this time and they still acted like they were.

"Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer was born with a very shiny nose. He was different from the others, but he only wanted one thing. To fly with the other reindeer on Santa's sleigh," Charlie said firmly.

Charlie's part was over for now and he even let go of Steve’s hand as he hurried off the stage. Steve grinned so proudly that it made Danny's insides melt. _He_ was meant to look at his kids like that, not Steve. But Steve doted on them and it made Danny love him all the more.

"Great work little man," Junior whispered as they passed each other on the steps.

Tani patted his head and grinned at him, "You killed out there! Good job!"

Grace threw her arms around her little brother as he rounded the corner.

"You did amazing! I told you you could get over that stage fright didn’t I?" She grinned.

"Uncle Steve helped," Charlie admitted sheepishly.

"No it was all you Charlie, I just stood there," Steve winked.

Charlie beamed proudly. His heart was going like a frate train and he had more lines coming up soon, but right now he was happy to let his cousin have the spotlight while Tani and Junior bullied him and left him out of their games.

"Steve you have to go get dressed, it's almost time for your part," Grace urged.

Steve nodded obediently and hurried off to get changed. Grace was aware that she would have to get dressed too soon but for now she leaned on the edge of the steps to watch the performance.

Tani and Junior kept their hands curved down in front of them and they kind of half skipped, half trotted whenever they had to move. Tani kept looking down her nose and keeping her chin high which made Grace giggle. Tani was dedicated to her role and it showed.

Steve appeared at Grace's side, panting to catch his breath. He had hurried here to make sure that he didn't miss much.

"Have they got to the musical number yet?" He whispered.

"No, that's-" Grace glanced his way and then did a double take at how his jacket fell loose around him. "Go put more padding on! Santa isn't that skinny!"

Steve gave her a look like a toddler who had been told to go to bed. "But-"

"You can't watch the play if you’re in it Uncle Steve! More padding!" As she hissed at him she pushed his shoulder towards the prop table.

He heard Lou snicker behind him, "You tell him little sister, someone's got to keep him in check."

Steve snorted and shook his head but he had to admit that Grace had a power over him he didn't fully understand. So did Charlie. Something about those kids left him struggling to refuse their antics. He didn’t understand it, but he loved it.

Danny sat up when they started singing a bouncy little song that he assumed was called You Can't Play With Us because Tani and Junior kept singing that phrase. Once the tune was loud enough for him to properly hear it, Danny realised that he recognised it. Junior and Tani had been humming it around the office all week, dropping it whenever they noticed him coming. He felt like a fool for not noticing before.

Suddenly a well padded familiar face hidden under a big red hat and a fluffy white beard burst onto stage.

"Ho, ho, ho!" He declared.

"Santa!" The reindeer, and a few people in the crowd, cheered.

Danny sat up, his jaw dropping, "Steve?!"

"No, _Santa,"_ Rachel corrected.

Danny didn't even hear her. "I wish Kono and Chin were here to see this. Actually-" Danny wriggled to get his phone out of his pocket so he could snap a photo of Steve padded out with cushions to look like a fictional character just to amuse Danny. Danny beamed with delight, which made Steve grin. He couldn’t resist stealing looks to check that Danny was, in fact, still watching.

"Kono and Chin are gonna love this," Danny grinned at Rachel.

Rachel just laughed. She had grown fond of Danny's friends over time. They were always very polite when they came to pick up Grace for various adventures. Even so, she couldn't help smiling at the idea of them receiving that photo of Steve with limited context. Danny rarely texted context. Goofy thumbs.

Steve and his reindeer cleared out the stage and Jerry stood up to winch down some bushes to make it look as though Eric was walking alone in a forest.

"Oh _deer_ whatever shall I do? I do so wish I could travel with Santa for Christmas," Eric pouted.

Lou stepped out from behind a cardboard tree with a face that could already hear the ridicule to join him. He was dressed all in white but with three black circles across his stomach, a big black top hat and a Hawaiian print scarf. His nose had been painted orange and he was furious about it.

"Have you tried asking the Winter Fairy for a wish? It worked for me," Lou said, begrudgingly.

Eric gasped, "Frosty the snowman?!"

_"WHAT?!"_

The ruckus from the crowd made Lou roll his eyes. It was exactly what he had expected when Steve told him he could either be Santa or a snowman. It was a shame that the Santa jacket didn't fit him.

"That's right Rudolph, _I_ am Frosty the _snow_ man. You can tell by my incredibly pale complexion. I'm snow white," Lou said, drily.

At the back of the room Flippa laughed so hard he spilt some of the hot chocolate and Kamekona elbowed him.

"Stick to the script!" Jerry complained.

"Frosty, I thought you melted," Eric said.

"No, all I wanted was to be able to laugh and play with the children all year round, so I wished that the Winter Fairy would give me magical powers so I don't melt, since I'm made out of snow as you can see, so I can play all year round!"

"The Winter Fairy did that?!"

"Yes. The Winter Fairy did. Because I'm a," Lou took a long pause as he drew in a sigh, "a happy. Jolly. Soul."

Danny's eyes were shining like he'd won the lottery. The jeering from the crowd was only drowned out by Lou's wife and son whooping from their seats. His daughter, however, had sunk down in her chair lower than even Lou wanted to be right now.

"Where can I find her?" Eric asked.

"You just have to close your eyes and wish loud enough for her to hear you," Lou said.

"Here we go!" Steve squeezed Grace's bare shoulders supportively.

Grace groaned softly. Steve glanced her way, momentarily surprised. He had never once considered the Williams family as a nervous bunch, even with Danny's anxiety attacks, but tonight all three of them had taken him by surprise.

"Nervous?" He asked.

"Terrified," she gave a breathy laugh.

"I wish the Winter Fairy was here!" Eric cried.

"You have to wish louder!" Lou said.

"Want me to come too?" Steve teased.

Grace laughed, which made him feel better. She smiled at him and shook her head. "No thanks Uncle Steve."

"I wish the Winter Fairy was here!" Eric shouted.

"You'll do great," Steve promised.

Grace said nothing but she did gulp. She ran up onto stage and leapt up onto her tiptoes to finish the look. Grace had added some glittery snowflakes to the Halloween costume she had made last year. Icicles ran long the netted hem of the petticoat to add to the illusion that she was a Christmassy fairy, and not a forest fairy covered in autumn leaves. They had made an icicles tiara for her to wear too, on top of a curled blonde wig.

"Aloha! I’m the Winter Fairy, did somebody wish for me?" She asked in a sugary voice.

"I wish this was over," Danny muttered

"Shh, come on they did this all for you," Rachel tutted.

Danny smiled to himself at the idea. As cringe inducing as this was to watch, he definitely enjoyed watching his fully grown, professionally trained law enforcing team mates making fools of themselves much more than he would have enjoyed his son's little classmates trying their hardest.

"Winter Fairy, oh Winter Fairy, all I want is to be able to fly with Santa and the other reindeer. I'm afraid I'll have to go stag all my life!" Eric whined.

Danny groaned, "Who wrote this?"

The play continued despite his protests and Lou was grateful not only that he only had one scene but that he didn’t have a musical number like Adam and Junior. Junior the rude reindeer had been forgotten and left in his scene for now. In this scene he had been replaced by Elfy's friend, unnamed elf. Elfy himself was played by Adam. A six foot something Asian man who usually wore designer shirts made from the finest materials and tailored to fit, who was currently wearing the same red waistcoat he had as a cloakroom assistant, but with a green and yellow pointed hat, matching tights, and a curly golden slippers. At one point in the number he had to be taught by Junior to cartwheel across the stage. Danny also took photos of that.

Chin in particular appreciated the juxtaposition of a former head of the yakuza performing acrobats in a child's play.

Finally they found Steve, Tani, and Adam on stage with Reindeer Junior, discussing what to do about this fog that had just settled across the whole north pole.

"I can't see three hooves in front of me!" Tani complained.

"Ho, ho, who said that?!" Steve joked.

"Oh God," Danny groaned.

He shot a look of betrayal at Rachel when she snorted and hid her smile behind her hand. A spark of affection lit inside Danny's chest. He had always liked her smile.

"It's not safe to fly in this fog Santa, we might have to cancel Christmas!" Adam cried.

Everyone on stage gasped at the same time, with such forced looks of horror as they chorused, "Cancel Christmas?! Oh no!"

Danny sunk lower in his chair as he tried hard not to laugh. Rachel's shoulders were shaking as she tried to hold it in.

"We can't cancel Christmas! What would happen to all the good little boys and girls who have been so nice all year round?" Santa said.

"They'd learn a harsh truth about life!" Someone from the back row heckled.

"Pipe down you!" Steve shot back.

He dropped the deeper, jolly Santa voice to bark at him instinctively which only caused the crowd to jeer again.

"Well Santa," Tani held her hands out with the most barbie-esk look of confusion on her face, "what else can we do?"

"Hmm. Let me think..."

Santa made a show of scratching his chin thoughtfully through his beard and Danny's stomach twisted as his smile grew. Danny fell for goofballs far too easily.

"I know! Let's ask the Winter fairy if she has any ideas!" Adam declared.

"Oh yes, lets!" Junior agreed.

"Winter Fairy! Winter Fairy!" Steve called.

Nothing happened.

"I don’t think she can hear us through the fog," Steve said.

"Oh no," Junior gasped.

"Maybe if we _all_ joined in, maybe then she'll hear us!" Adam said.

"Great idea Elfy!" Steve grinned.

Danny sank lower into his chair like he was melting as the characters all turned to face the crowd.

"Oh please no," Danny muttered.

"Come on every body, altogether now, on the count of three! One, two, _Winter Fairy_!" The characters called.

"For God's- _Winter Fairy_ ," Danny called lazily.

Rachel snorted so loudly that she almost hiccupped trying to stop herself.

"Did somebody call?!"

A cheer went through the crowd as Grace leaned out into view. Danny groaned and Rachel laughed a little harder. Grace came tip toeing out onto stage and twirled her wand playfully.

"Oh dear Santa, with all this fog it looks like you'll have a bumpy flight!" She said.

"It looks like we might have to cancel Christmas, Winter Fairy," Steve said.

"Oh dear! That wont do! If only we knew someone who could light your way through the fog. But who?" She asked.

They all pretended to think for a moment.

"Dasher?" Adam pointed to Junior.

"No," Grace giggled.

"Elfy?" Tani pointed to Adam.

"No!" Grace laughed.

"Frosty?" Junior pointed off stage.

 _"No!"_ Lou barked.

The line had been adlibbed. He was supposed to say Tani. Junior just couldn't resist the chance of winding up Lou.

"Then who?!" Steve cried.

Grace waved her wand and Jerry pressed a button to activate a smoke machine that he really should have activated earlier to act like fog. Under the haze, Eric ran on, into the centre of the stage. He had pinned on a new clown nose instead of just the painted one and it was noticeable. Jerry hit another button and a spotlight hit Eric as he put his hands on his hips like a super hero.

"Rudolph! Of course!" The characters chorused.

"I can guide your sleigh Santa, look!" Eric declared.

There was a blackout on stage and suddenly Eric's nose lit up like a happy little Christmas tree.

"Is it over yet? Tell me it's- why are they coming into the audience?" Danny groaned.

Steve was ran through the aisles with the three reindeer, handing out miniature candy canes as they went. Steve bumped into Eric when he tried to make it to the front row. He wasn’t going to let anyone get to Danny before him.

"You gonna give me a candy cane?" Danny snorted.

"You been a good boy all year?" Steve teased.

"You want a punch?" Danny smirked.

"Ah you're naughty," Steve teased.

"What you gonna do about it?" Danny smirked.

"I'm gonna give you a candy cane because I'm still nice," Steve winked.

"I have plenty of proof to the contrary," Danny smirked.

Steve hooked a candy cane onto Danny's tie and tugged him forward so that Danny was forced to lean closer. Steve's fake beard tickled his nose as he drew close enough to whisper in his ear.

"Keep that to yourself," he whispered.

Danny felt a shudder down his spine that stopped his brain from being able to function properly. He didn't manage to think of an answer before Steve pulled away. Steve had to be quick. If he hadn't, if he had stayed that close any longer he wouldn't have been able go resist the temptation of wrapping his tongue around Danny's earlobe. That was _not_ the kind of thing Santa got up to. When they got back up on stage Steve patted Eric's back.

"Well done Rudolph, you did a brilliant job!" Junior grinned.

"I agree. I think you'll go down in history for this young buck!" Steve grinned.

"Thank you Santa, that's all I ever wanted," Eric beamed.

"Do you want to play some reindeer games with us?" Tani asked.

"Yes please!" Eric nodded.

They circled Santa as he bellowed a laugh and they jogged down the steps, patting Charlie's head as they passed him on the stairs. Steve tucked a candy cane into his hand as he passed. Charlie hurried up to the centre stage, feeling much more brave now.

"So Rudolph had saved the day and he had gotten his Christmas wish. Every year since Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer has guided Santa's sleigh all over the world. And they all lived happily ever after!"

The applause went up as the lights went down on the stage again. They came back up so the cast could fill the stage for one final bow. Rachel elbowed Danny playfully.

"Now it's over," she said.

Danny applauded louder. The cast prepared for the end of the play as the audience sank back into chatting. Charlie had shed his blazer and dumped it over the stage as he ran to take in the adulation.

"Danno!"

"Charlie! Hey!"

Danny had to bend to catch Charlie as he leapt onto his arms, and Danny sat him on his hip. Almost immediately, after Charlie gave him a huge hug, Charlie hauled his whole weight back, with his arms still around Danny's neck. Danny had to put him back on the floor so he didn’t drop him or make them both fall over. Charlie just bounced like an excited rabbit.

"Did you see me Danno, did you see me on stage?!" He cried.

Danny laughed. Charlie was hard to miss. "I did, it was amazing! You were so good, I'm so proud of you!"

Grace hurried over, tugging Steve along with her. Steve hadn't been able to get his whole outfit off before she had grabbed his hand and lead him across the room like a dog on a leash. Grace, however, had shed everything by her wig, wings and make up. Glitter still dropped from her when she walked.

"Did you like it Danno? It was Uncle Steve who did everything, isn’t he great!" Grace beamed.

Steve wrapped an arm around Grace's shoulders and affectionately tugged her closer.

"It was Grace's idea, it was just a really good idea!" He grinned.

"Did you like it Danno?" Charlie beamed again.

"Did I like it?! Of course I did, I loved it, it was like watching Broadway, except uh, some of the casting I'd change up if I was you, that snowman seemed a little grumpy," Danny winked.

Lou appeared over Charlie's head, completely void of any snow man apparel, and warned, "That snowman has a gun if you wanna make a complaint."

Rachel smiled at him, "I thought you were wonderful."

Lou huffed a little and grumbled something sarcastic as he wandered off to find his family. Danny gestured for Steve to follow him, so they stepped to one side, leaving Rachel to fawn over the kids.

"When you said to come over because you had a surprise to help me forget that I missed Charlie's play, I was expecting a projector screen to watch the DVD on, not-" Danny didn't even have the words to describe what had just happened so he gestured to the stage with a hand and a shake of his head. "This was amazing Steve. _Insane,_ but amazing. Thank you for this."

Steve's big goofy megawatt grin was brighter than the golden sunset beginning to kiss the ocean on the horizon.

"You kidding? C’mon man it was easy. Well, kind of. Well, not really. Getting Lou to agree was probably the hardest part, everyone else was really ready to get involved. Tani was surprisingly reluctant for a woman who dresses as a mermaid in her free time, but Junior helped convince her it was for a good cause. It was a little rough, we only had a week to scrounge a stage but the school were surprisingly helpful - I think they wanted to clear out some of this junk and giving it to us got that done quickly. And considering we only had a week to learn our lines and we only had one full cast rehearsal on the roof of the palace, I think we did good!"

What had finally convinced Tani that it was time they gave something back to Danny was Grace actually. Grace wanted to give her old toy monkey to Charlie for Christmas, since she hadn’t thought about it in years and she thought he might like it to play with. When she asked Danny if he knew where it was he had to admit that he had given it to a baby girl who’s parents had been killed before she would ever know them. Tani knew what it was like to grow up a little lost and unsure that anyone really cared about you, so when Danny gave up something so important to him so that a stranger would grow up knowing someone she would never remember really cared too, she agreed to do the play.

"But it was super easy, right?" Danny teased.

"Right. And, bonus, there's no more secret meetings to leave you out of now," Steve grinned.

Danny laughed. He had utterly forgotten their conversation this morning and the self pitying feelings that caused it. If the pay off was something this amazing, Danny didn’t mind being left out of the loop for a while.

"I don't know anyone insane enough to think of this, let alone pull it off except you. You didn’t have to do this," Danny said, earnestly.

Steve smiled, "You know I'd do anything for you."

Danny held his gaze as he let his smile soften. Steve meant it. If there was ever any doubt- actually there wasn’t. Danny didn't doubt that Steve would go to the ends of the earth for him because he already had. He had seen Danny at his absolute worst and he hadn't flinched. Danny was lucky to have him and he knew it.

Grace took the mistletoe from Rachel's bag. Rachel had been suspicious when Grace asked her to bring it - she was, after all, supposed to be at an aloha girls meeting - but once she saw things from her daughters standpoint, things made a lot more sense.

"Charlie, go hold this over uncle Steve and Danno's heads," Grace ordered.

"Why?" Charlie asked innocently.

"I'll give you a cookie."

"Okay!"

Rachel shook her head affectionately. The boy would do anything for a treat. He took the mistletoe and skipped over to his father, but he tugged Steve’s leg to get attention. Steve knelt down instantly, mid sentence. Charlie tugged on Danny's hand to make him follow. Once both were kneeling down, Charlie held the mistletoe over both of them. They shared a look of alarm.

"Um, what you doing bud?" Danny asked cautiously.

"Gracie said she'd give me a cookie if I held this over your heads,"

"Did she now?"

"Y’know what that is right Charlie?"

Charlie shook his head.

"That's called mistletoe. It's a Christmas tradition to hang it up so when two people are underneath it they, uh," Danny couldn't help glancing at Steve, but he snatched his eyes back before he could be caught, "they kiss."

"Oh," Charlie said.

"But Danno, there's _three_ people under the mistletoe right now," Steve said pointedly.

"What?" Danny frowned.

"Huh?" Charlie frowned.

Steve held Danny's gaze and gave a subtle nod towards Charlie.

 _"Oh._ Right. I see," Danny smiled.

"Uh huh," Steve grinned.

Before Charlie knew what was happening, his uncle swept him up off of his feet and held him between his father and himself. At the same time they both planted big kisses onto both of Charlie's cheek, squishing up his face as he writhed to get away.

 _"Ewwww!"_ He cried as he finally broke free.

Grace face palmed as he came rushing over to demand payment. Danny and Steve were still on their knees and laughing as they watching him go. When their eyes met it was an accident, but it was enough to make them both slightly flustered. It was possibly the closest they had come to actually kissing.

"He had crumbs all over his cheeks still," Steve said as he rose to his feet.

"He takes after me. I've still got candy cane between my teeth," Danny chuckled.

"I didn't get a candy cane in the end," Steve said.

"Well if you want a taste you’re welcome to-"

Danny froze. His heart missed a beat inside of him. He hadn't been thinking, it just slipped out. Steve stared at him with hopeful expectancy. Danny felt his ears burning red with embarrassing as he cleared his throat and pulled his eyes away from Steve's lips.

"I uh, I should stop drinking. I need a clear head to drive home," he forced a laugh.

Steve smiled. He was keenly aware of the fact that Danny had been drinking nothing by hot chocolate all night. He was sober. Stone cold sober. But for the sake of his pride, Steve went along with his lie.

"Stay here," he said, "You're more than welcome."

"All my presents for the kids are at home," Danny shook his head.

There was a small smile that came with it, and it wasn't a no. Both of these things Steve clung to as the hope in his stomach felt like butterflies.

"I'll send someone sober to fetch them. Please stay Danny."

As he pleaded he gripped Danny's arm gently. It sent Danny's pulse racing. He licked his lips but his eyes never left Steve's hand. As much as he wanted to say yes, he wasn't sure. Something in him held back. He had no idea what, but Steve wasn't going to let him have his usual excuses.

"Junior-"

"Is going to try and spend Christmas with his parents. Tani's going for moral support."

"Moral support?"

"That’s what she calls it."

"I'm sure."

Danny snorted with derision. Those two were clearly in love with each other. Everyone could see it. They kept giving them wafer thin excuses to spend time together push them closer to admitting it. But they wouldn't. They were both too stubborn, or too scared. But it only took one of them to open that door. If they were brave enough that is...

"Spend Christmas with me Danny. I want you to. You and the kids. Here. Please?"

Steve said in a low but serious voice. Not quite pleading, but not far off it. It was enough to knock Danny off guard. He had no idea what to say. In the end he looked back towards his kids. Even Rachel was watching them with expectation in her eyes and a wistful smile on her face. He gulped.

"Charlie, Gracie, how would you feel about staying here tonight and having Christmas here tomorrow?" Danny asked.

"Dibs on Uncle Steve's bed!" Charlie threw his hand up instantly.

Grace snorted. She had stayed over at her uncle's house often enough to know he had two spare rooms. One that used to be his parents was currently occupied by Junior, but he had set up Mary's old room with her in mind back when she was nine and it hadn’t changed since.

"Dibs on the spare then, Danno and Uncle Steve, can have the sofa!" She grinned.

Danny's ears were burning again as he turned back to Steve. Steve's eyes were shining affectionately.

"I think they're okay with it," Steve said.

Danny just laughed. It was all he could do. He was fairly sure that if Charlie brought back that mistletoe right now he would muster up the courage to finally kiss Steve, but he didn’t have the excuse. Danny liked to have an escape plan in case anything went side ways.

A bit like Steve's back up play to Danny wouldn't miss Charlie's big day.

Danny smiled warmly as he looked around at his team. They were his. friends. Friends who were rapidly becoming a family.

Balancing fatherhood against being a cop was hard. Especially at Christmas. But with his team on his side to help make the best of what little time he had to spare, it was getting easier.

With them around everything was easier. Because he had a partner he could rely on and a family who had his back.

Yeah. Christmas would be easier from now on.


End file.
